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Decoding words can be one of the biggest challenges a child faces when learning to read. Schools teach a wide range of ways to help children decode words, some of which you can use at home.
Take a picture walk. Before you and your child sit down with a new book, particularly one that you intend to read together, take a picture walk. Read the title and author to your child, and then go through the book page by page; decide what’s happening on each based on the pictures. This exercise will help orient your child to the story and give him or her some sense of what words to look for while reading.
Skip and return. Let’s say that your child is stuck on the word “brown” in the sentence “The brown dog is chasing after the bouncing ball.” Prompt him or her to skip the hard word, finish the sentence, and then take another shot at the unknown word. Because of the way the sentence is written, your child should know that the word missing is an adjective. A scan of the picture will provide your child with a clue as to what the word might be. Then your child can make a connection between the written word “brown” and the spoken word “brown.”
Use what you know. Let’s pretend that your child is having trouble with the word “chasing” in the sentence, “The brown dog is chasing after the bouncing ball.” He or she looks to the picture and reads “chasing” as “runs”—a perfectly logical guess. You can then say something like “I noticed you had some trouble with this word, and then you said ‘runs’. Let’s take a look at the word together and see if we can figure out what the author used there instead of ‘runs’?” Then help your child look at the first letter, the last letter, or any known combination of letters in the words to help him or her reach the right answer. This is a low pressure way to offer some help. If your child still struggles, say the word and move on.
Employing all or some combination of these strategies when you’re reading with your children may be the boost they need to go from frustrated readers to confident ones.
Jenny Rich is a licensed reading specialist who worked as a teacher in the New York City public schools. She is now a stay-at-home mom and the editor of the children’s literacy website www.ethansbookshelf.com.
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