Listening to my child read…Questions Parents Ask

How can I help? Your role is to provide support. Praise your child’s reading! Enjoy reading together. Reading should be fun! If your child gets frustrated, stop listening and start reading.

What can I do when my child stops at a hard word?Say--

That’s a hard part. You found it! What can you do to help yourself? Let’s reread the whole sentence together. What word would make sense? What word would sound right? Does the picture help you? Could it be ________? (Suggest a word to try.)

What can I do after a mistake has been made? If the mistake makes sense, let the child read on. If the mistake doesn’t make sense, use one of more of the questions listed above?

When can I tell my child a word? Use common sense. You know your child best! If you think your child may not understand what the word means, tell him/her the word. If the book seems too hard, read it together or read it to your child.

You can improve your child’s reading ability by asking questions before, during and after the story. Encourage your child to make connections with what they are reading to real life experiences (text to self, text to text (other books) and text to world).

Why can’t I skip my 20 minutes of reading tonight?Did you know one of the most prominent indicators of a

successful reader is the amount of time spent actually reading?

Student A reads 20 minutes five nights of every week.Student B reads only 4 minutes a night or not at all!

Student A reads 3600 minutes in a nine month school year.Student B reads 720 minutes in a nine month school year.

Student A practices reading the equivalent of ten whole school days in a year!Student B only gets the equivalent of at most two days of reading practice!