Take part in literacy experiences at home! Taking part can develop your child’s reading ability, comprehension, and language skills. It could also improve your child’s interest in reading, attitude towards reading, and focus.
Below you will find resources that you can use to support your child's learning and reading progress at home. Use this guide to target a problem your child may be having with reading and learn what you can do to help!
If your child says things like this, they may have a problem with phonological or phonemic awareness:
• “I don’t know any words that rhyme with cat.”
• “What do you mean when you say what sounds are in the word brush?”
• “I’m not sure how many syllables are in my name."
What I can do to help?
• Do sound-related activities, such as helping your child think of a number of words that start with the /m/ or /ch/ sound, or other beginning sounds.
• Use computer games designed to build your child’s phonemic skills.
PBS Learning Media Phonological Awareness
Phonological Awareness and Phonemic Awareness Games
• Make up silly sentences with words that begin with the same sound, such as “Nobody was nice to Nancy’s neighbor.”
• Clap out syllables together.
• Make a collage of items that start with the same sound using pictures from magazines.
• Read books with rhymes, such as Dr. Seuss books. Teach your child rhymes, short poems, and songs.
If your child says things like this, they may have a problem with word decoding or phonics:
• “I just seem to get stuck when I try to read a lot of the words in this chapter.”
• “Figuring out the words takes so much of my energy, I can’t even think about what it means.”
• “I don’t know how to sound out these words.”
What can I do to help?
• Play with magnetic letters. See how quickly you can put them in order while singing the alphabet song.
• Play online phonics games.
• Look at written materials around your house and at road signs to see if you can spot familiar words and letter patterns.
• Write notes, e-mails, and letters to your friends and family. Represent each sound you hear as you write.
If your child says things like this, they may have a problem with vocabulary:
• “I heard my friend tell what happened in the movie but I didn’t really understand it.”
• “I feel like I just use the same words over and over again in my writing.”
• “I don’t like to read on my own because I don’t understand lots of the words in the book.”
What can I do to help?
• Engage your child in conversations every day. If possible, include new and interesting words in your conversation.
• Read to your child each day. When the book contains a new or interesting word, pause and define the word for your child.
• Help build word knowledge by classifying and grouping objects or pictures while naming them.
• Play verbal games like Pictionary and Word Search and tell jokes and stories.
If your child says things like this, they may have a problem with fluency:
• “I just seem to get stuck when I try to read a lot of the words in this chapter.”
• “It takes me so long to read something.”
• “Reading through this book takes so much of my energy, I can't even think about what it means.”
What can I do to help?
• Support and encourage your child. Realize that he or she is likely frustrated by reading.
• Check with your child’s teachers to find out their assessment of your child’s decoding skills.
• Read aloud with expression to your child to provide an example of how fluent reading sounds.
• Reread a favorite book multiple aloud with your child.
If your child says things like this, they may have a problem with comprehension:
• “It takes me so long to read something. It’s hard to follow along with everything going on.”
• “I didn’t really get what that book was about.”
• “Why did that character do that? I just don’t get it!”
• “I’m not sure what the most important parts of the book were.”
• "When I get to the end, I really don't remember what I read."
What can I do to help?
• Hold a conversation and discuss what your child has read. Ask your child probing questions about the book and connect the events to his or her own life.
• Help your child go back to the text to support his or her answers.
• Discuss the meanings of unknown words, both those he reads and those he hears.
Why Is Reading So Hard?
Tips for Reading with Your Child
The Family Guide for Student Success outlines what your child should learn at each grade level from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. You can encourage your child’s academic growth by reinforcing classroom activities at home.
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