Strategies for Parents to Boost their Child's Reading Fluency
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Reading is an important component of language learning. It develops the basis of learning how to read. It allows children to analyze and synthesize texts to understand the text's meaning. It also enhances vocabulary development, provides opportunities for listening comprehension, and helps develop critical thinking skills. When children reach second grade, they start to gain the fundamentals of reading, but not every child at this stage can read fluently.
What is Reading Fluency?
Reading fluency is generally defined as the reading speed at which an individual can read a passage and comprehend it accurately. Reading fluency is an essential aspect of reading because it allows readers to read more quickly and efficiently. Children do not develop reading fluency by accident. It is a skill that needs to be nurtured at an early age. Therefore, parents must take an active role in developing their child's reading fluency.
When reading fluently is a struggle for your child, there are many ways for you as a parent to help support this critical, lifelong skill. First, be patient and enjoy the process! Any child can improve this skill through repetitive practice and consistent feedback. Here are some steps you can take to help your child improve reading fluency.
Strategies for Parents to Boost their Child's Reading Fluency
1. Show your fluent reading practice
When you read aloud to your children, read with fluency. You can show your children what fluent reading sounds like by reading aloud to them and modeling good reading practice. It helps the child become familiar with the flow of fluent reading and the skills needed for adequate reading fluency. As you read aloud to your child, monitor his ability to follow along. It will help identify areas where they need help in developing his fluency.
2. Develop a vocabulary of the words your child reads
Read to your child using accurate text from books and articles. Avoid using pictures and drawings. Instead, build a vocabulary of words and phrases that your child reads. As you read, point out the words that your child is reading wrong or missed the first time through. Then, highlight them on paper for him to see later on so that he can remember what he should learn next time around.
3. Set goals for your child's reading
When reading with a partner, talk about your own reading experiences and the books you enjoy. Talk about what you appreciate and don't like about the books you read. If there is a book that you need to read, tell your child that he can also read it and then find the word or words that are most difficult to understand. It will help him understand the terms in a book, making it more fun for him when he reads on his own.
4. Read books from different genres
Reading books from different genres builds a broader vocabulary for your child. It also brings a more creative way to learn to your child and gives him more ideas on expressing himself. For example, if you are reading something with lots of different words, you might want to sound out the letters or read them aloud together.
5. Choose short books
Even if your child wants to read a book for hours, it's best to choose a short book that is easy for your child to read at his own pace. If he can't keep up with the plot at his own pace, he will lose interest in reading. Also, when you read a book together, you'll both be reciting words or getting bored before you realize it's time to stop. On the other hand, if you let your child choose which books he wants to read on his own, most children want to stick with books that are not challenging. They want an easy way out and don't like when the story gets too complicated!
6. Let your child read alone at home
By reading the same book with your child at home, you can help him build his vocabulary and increase his fluency while he is having fun on his own. Reading together outside of school also helps children build the language skills they need for school and makes homework more enjoyable for them when they have already read the book with you at home.
7. Work on sight words
Want to improve your child's reading fluency and speed? Try teaching him common sight words. Sight words are individual words that often appear in the English language. They are considered common because they are frequently used, and they do not follow typical rules for word-formation. These sight words are not visually recognizable, and your child can learn them on a one-by-one basis. However, they can be just as challenging as a whole sentence because most do not make sense if you read them aloud.
8. Have your child read a passage in a set time frame
It is a great strategy to improve your child's reading speed, which is a huge part of reading fluency. Here is how you do it, set a stopwatch for at least a minute and have your child read a paragraph of a story with as few mistakes as possible. When you notice your child breaks his fluency, like struggling to pronounce some words, approach your child and work on this area. You can introduce the meaning and the correct pronunciation. Then have your child read the passage once again with the stopwatch set for one minute. This time the reading should be fluent. If not, repeat this strategy until your child can read a passage in one minute without mistakes.
Fluency is one of the most important components of reading. It's not about how quickly children can read a certain amount of words per minute or finish a book in a flash; it's about whether or not they can comprehend what they just read. To improve your child's reading fluency, he should be encouraged to practice using strategies that help them build their vocabulary and increase their understanding of a new text.
Andrea Gibbs was Born, raised, and still living in New York. She is a work-at-home mom with a background in business development, strategy, and social media marketing. Andrea is a blog contributor at Baby Steps Daycare to motivate and educate other parents about how they can get their children ahead of the game in school.
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