One of the reading strategies my older son is practicing is “rereading for understanding”. Although it is certainly applicable to beginning readers who may need to go back and reread what they just read in order to make sure they are understanding what they are reading, it is a skill that you can begin to teach children even as preschoolers.
As you are reading stories to your youngsters, occasionally pause to ask questions about what you are reading. Does your child understand the story? If you come across a word of which you are not sure if your child knows the meaning, take a moment to ask your child about the word.
Whenever you discover that your child does not understand part of the story, together go back a page or two and reread the story. Help your child use the words and the pictures to better understand the story. Take time to explain to your child that rereading the story can help you understand and parts that may be confusing or figure out the meaning to words that you don’t know.
Although your child is probably not reading words on her own, learning strategies to help better understand what is being read is one way to help her get ready for the day when she is reading by herself.
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Written by Laura on October 31, 2011
Distinguishing between fantasy and realism is a skill that you and I are probably able to do easily, and without much thought. However, for a young child who has only had a few years worth of experiences compared to our decades worth, it may not be such an easy task.
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Written by Laura on September 26, 2011
For very young children who are not yet reading, it is still important to teach them comprehension skills. They should be prepared for when that little light goes on, and they begin to decode the words. Try this royal activity to help your child show off their reading comprehension skills.
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Written by Laura on August 27, 2011
Have you ever noticed the wall of brochures that are displayed at any given rest area along the highway? Even if we are not staying in that area, my children love to look at the various activities that are there. They dream about going to all of the exciting places listed, and, of course, they ask if we can go there some day. I have also found that they are very attentive when I read to them ou
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Written by Laura on May 9, 2011
Part of being able to read with expression, is identifying the feelings of the characters. Young children who are not yet able to read are still able to understand character emotions based on what is happening in the story. As the adult reading the story, you can help your child make a connection between how a character feels and how you read the words.
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Written by BRWI Staff on April 4, 2011
As you sit down with your child to read her a story, there are several things you can do to help your child get the most out of her storytelling experience. Children at this young age are typically willing to sit and listen to a story from start to finish. However, you want to actively engage them in the story in order to get them thinking about what they are hearing. Here are some simple sugge
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Written by BRWI Staff on November 10, 2010
A friend of mine was telling me about a web site, http://www.starfall.com/, one of the neighboring school districts uses to help reinforce early reading skills. I was surprised to find that the site is available for free to anyone who wishes to use it. After perusing it for about half and hour, I let my kindergartner sit down with me and begin playing some of the games.
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Written by Laura on November 8, 2010
When my older son was just beginning to read, I quickly noticed that he was able to sound out short words where each letter in the word had one sound. He ran into difficulty when there were two letters together that made one sound. These combinations, such as “sh”, “ch”, and “th” are called digraphs. There are also other common blends, such as “cl”
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Written by Laura on October 27, 2010
Think about how you are reading this article right now. Are you spending time slowly decoding each individual word? Or are you able to smoothly read each word consecutively in your head? This smooth flow is called “fluency”. Fluency can be difficult to assess in pre-readers because they are not yet ready for recognizing a large vocabulary of words and are probably not ready for dec
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Written by Laura on October 1, 2010
Young children love to read. They even love to read before they are able to actually sound out the words. You may see your child sitting with a familiar book retelling the story in his own words while pretending to read the words on the page. And, although you may not appreciate the draw to a certain fast food restaurant with a giant yellow “M” as their logo, your child will begin t
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Written by BRWI Staff on September 1, 2010
Our goal is to give you the tools and confidence to teach your preschooler the joy of reading and writing.
Sponsored by Bridges Reading & Writing Institute -- teaching the JOY of reading and writing to students in preschool through 12th grade.
