Teaching your kids to read......

When I teach children to read, I always make sure they find the "just right" book. This can be a book or story from an IPad or other digital source and from a hard copy or paper source. It always helps to have one page of text where a child can read and then find if the book is "just right." I can list so many ways to do this. One way is to have your child read one page. If your child finds more than five difficult words on the page, then it is too difficult. If you find 2 or 3 words that are difficult, then it really is ok to read. Sometimes I find that students still want to read those books. If they are determined they will! Make sure they sound out, and chunk out each word. Tracking using a pencil or your finger is also very important when learning to read. It helps them keep an eye on those difficult words. 

Ask questions about the story. Make connections. Make predictions. Love those books that are so colorful with elaborate illustrations! Picture books can be a dream land for those visual learners because they can make connections to the story by reading the pictures. Always read a picture book with expression. It counts! Your child will fall asleep before bed in a dream when you use appropriate rate, intonation, expression while reading. This is fluency and it builds comprehension.