Kings Park Elementary

Literacy at Home

Reading At Home With A Younger Student

	Reading with our young child is a rewarding and enjoyable experience. Children like to sit close to an adult and share the book while they read together. Sometimes your child will just want to listen to a good story and enjoy the text and pictures as you read. Other times, you and your child will read the text together and then, eventually, your child will bring home books from school that he or she can read to you!
Parents sometimes ask how they can help their child when she comes to a word that is unfamilar. Though sounding our the word is certainly an acceptable choice, there are other ways to help your child decode an unknown word. After reading the strategies below, click on each one for an explanation.
Look at the picture. Look at the first letter of the word. Look for a familiar chunk in the word. Box the word and look at it alone. Go back and reread. Sound it out. Ask for help.
After the student decodes the unknown word have her go back and reread. Good readers always go back and reread after encountering a tricky part so text meaning is not lost.