Reading Strategy - “Difficult Words ”
What Do I Do When My Child Makes a Mistake, or Turns to Me for Help while Reading?
You can expect your child to make errors and encounter words that s/he does not know when s/he is reading new materials. These problems are really opportunities to grow and should be left up to him/her to solve as much as possible. If you just supply the miscalled word every time, your child will grow dependent on you instead of learning how to handle problems independently.
The first thing you do when your child needs help is to DO NOTHING. Stop and think, and give the child time to think as well. See if you can determine the source of the problem and think of questions you can ask to guide your child to solve the problem. An often-used response to an error is simply, “Try that again.” Sometimes, you may choose to ignore an error if it does not change the meaning of the sentence, and sometimes, there may be nothing better to do than just tell your child what it is. As a reading tutor, your skill in making decisions about how to intervene appropriately is important and will grow with experience.
This strategy comes from:
Johnson, F., Invernizzi, M, & Juel, C. (1998) Book Buddies: Guidelines for Volunteer Tutors of Emergent and Early Readers, New York, The Guilford Press.
Good Luck!
Click here to see more literacy strategies.
|
