One of the most important aspects of your child’s ability to improve in reading is his actual perception of reading. Is reading important to your child? Is he good at it? Is he interested in reading? If not, then he will not likely improve his reading ability. Our goal is to get him above grade level in reading. But we cannot do that without him. Luckily, there are a few things that we can do to help get our children on the right track.
1. SET THE EXAMPLE
First of all, we should be asking ourselves the same questions. Is reading important to me? Am I good at it? Do I want to be better? Am I interested in reading? The truth is, our children watch EVERYTHING we do. Also, whether they want to admit it or not, they copy us. If we yell at them to pick up a book all the time but they never see us read anything except a tweet or a Facebook post, then it is unlikely that they will value reading. We must become readers. If we show our children that reading is important to us, it’ll become important to them.
2. GO BACK TO THE BASICS
I realize that today we can read anything on our phones, laptops and tablets but having actual physical books in our hands like the old days creates a different reading experience. Get actual books, newspapers and even print out articles to read and lay them across the coffee table. Put them on the shelf in the kitchen or on the t.v. stand and READ. Actually, read in front of your child and have her read part of what you’re reading. If we are not good at reading, or if our child isn’t, we will show that it is important for us to work on improving.
3. TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE READING I remember my students LOVED talking about what was going on in the chapter. See, it’s not just about the letters or words that they have to sound out. It’s about the events taking place in the text. It’s about their favorite characters getting out of a jam. Or the antagonist causing more mischief. The same can go for you with what you’re reading. Now I know that it may mean more work for us parents but what if our kids needed to eat healthier? Would we really expect them to eat healthy food when we’re snarfing down Oreos right in front of them? We have to have the mindset that our child’s reading is a priority so we’re going to do whatever needs to be done.
4. READING TIME IS NOW FAMILY TIME
A surefire way to establish a reading mindset in your house is to set aside actual time for it. We set aside time to do laundry, watch our favorite show, eat dinner, shower etc. If we can do all of that, then we can set aside time to help our kids get above grade level in reading. Pick a text for them to practice reading out loud in front of the family then take turns reading a chapter book together. You can take turns picking the book. My students and my daughter LOVED reading books together. We would get all up in those characters. Schedules and other responsibilities may start to arise and demand to replace this very important time but again, we must have the mindset that family reading time is just as important as brushing our teeth.
5. TEACH YOUR CHILD HOW TO THINK ABOUT READING
Right now, a lot of our children think that a game or a t.v. show is what they should be doing with their free time. It’s not because reading cannot be enjoyable. Believe me, I have lots of experience to the contrary with my students. It’s just that reading has not been up front and center. Have your child read for 15 minutes before they watch t.v. or play a game. Bring them a cup of hot cocoa with whipped cream on top during their reading time, or some healthy snacks. That 15 minutes will start to stretch before your eyes. Be sure to ask her about what’s going on in her text when she’s done.I just had a taste for some fish sticks with sliced cucumber. Yum.
6. HAVE YOUR CHILD BE A PART OF THE GOAL SETTING PROCESS
This worked really well when I was teaching. My darlings had severe behavior problems and were behind academically as well. Once a month we would have individual meetings that lasted about 10 minutes. We would talk about where they were academically and where they wanted to be. We also did the same with their behavior. If they earned, notice I said earned, a D on their last report card for language arts, we would set a goal for a C-. I usually went a half- grade up because of the type of class I was teaching. However, they would usually surpass our goal which was a major boost to their self-confidence and consequently, their behavior.
We may have set a behavior goal of “speak respectfully to adults”. We would both write our comments and sign the contract. Then I sent it home to their parents to review, comment on and sign as well. Then I had them hang it up in class and discuss their contracts with the rest of the class. Ever heard of the phrase, “It takes a village”?
Find out what your child’s reading level is. Discuss it with her. Set a goal and an action plan and start implementing it right away. Let her teacher know what your goals are but take responsibility for your part at home as well. You should see improvement on her next report card and her next reading level assessment.
CONCLUSION
Shut out all the noise. There are seemingly thousands of explanations that we have all heard about why our children are reading below grade level. As of this moment, tell yourself that none of that matters. It is just noise. Too often, we let the noise dictate how we approach and resolve an issue. Let’s simplify it. It’s just words, man. Every time our children read they get better. It’s practice. If we go up to bat and practice our swing 1 time every other week how can we expect to hit a home run? So, have the mindset that you are going to make sure that you and your child don’t stop swinging the bat. Just don’t stop swinging the bat.
I congratulate you on your decision to take this journey. I’m right here with you. We have no idea how amazing your child really is right now and how amazing he is going to be. Just keep swinging the bat. If you miss, dust yourself off, get in position and swing again. You got this. And I got your back.
