1. Help Your Child Learn to Read
Tips for Parents
Casey B. Smith, Literacy Specialist
Blue Ridge Elementary School

2. YOU Are Your Child’s First And Most Important Teacher
Read with your child every day
Encourage your child to read his/her favorite books when reading together
Ask questions about the story and pictures
Make connections with the story and your child

3. Read Everything Around You
Grocery Items
Signs
Household items
Menus
Words on TV
Recipes
Mail
Magazines, Newspapers

4. First thing’s first… Your child MUST have letter/sound knowledge
Without letter/sound knowledge, you can’t read or write!
Letter/sound fluency will lead to segmenting and blending with ease
Use flashcards, computer games, magnets, alphabet books
Repetition is KEY

5. Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Mo… How to pick the right book to read
Talk to your teacher and get suggestions
Ask a Librarian
Find something that interests you
Beginning readers should choose a book with 1-2 lines per page
Make sure you can read MOST of the words on the page

6. Frequently Asked Questions
Should my child point to the words when reading?
YES!! Finger-pointing is a strategy that beginning readers use to stay on track. It helps them focus on each individual word.
Covering up the pictures helps my child learn the words, right?
Actually, the pictures give the reader clues. It is a good strategy among all readers.

7. Frequently Asked Questions
Is memorizing words okay?
Yes. Memorizing is developmental and will help build reading fluency or automaticity.
If my child doesn’t know a word, what do I do?
Use pictures for clues
What is the first sound in the word?
Try to sound out the word if possible (phonetic)
Still no luck? Go ahead and tell them the word.

8. More Strategies…
Read through the sentence to figure out what makes sense
Word patterns
Chunking
Prefixes/Suffixes
Does your guess make sense and fit the letter pattern?

9. Reading and Writing are LINKED
Decode = “sounding out the word”
Encode = “write what you hear” (inventive spelling)
Segmenting sounds, transferring to paper
Write notes, words, letters, lists using all types of materials
Let your child read their own writing to you!

10. My Advice to you… BE PATIENT! Make reading a fun experience
Practice makes perfect…
Read easy books to build fluency and CONFIDENCE
PRAISE = MOTIVATION
MOTIVATION = SUCCESS

11. Sources http://classroom.jc-schools.net/waltkek/
National Institute for Literacy
National Reading Panel
North Carolina State Improvement Project II: Foundations Level Training in Reading