Five Skills Children Need to be Readers by 3rd Grade
1. Spoken words
Before your child ever sees a word on the page, he or she will hear thousands and thousands of
words-spoken words. Every spoken word is a series of sounds. It's called phonemic awareness.
Teachers call knowing how language sounds "phonemic awareness." You can start working on
phonemic awareness when your child is a baby. Even saying silly words like "coochie coo" begins to
make language sounds more familiar. Children should have a good sense of phonemic awareness by
the time they start preschool.
How can a Dad help?
Play games with words. If you see a boat, say to your child, "hey, look at that coat in the water!"
She
will know it's a boat, and probably tell you so! At dinner, ask your son to pass you his fish...he'll
correct
you right away that you meant his dish not fish.
2. Written Words
The leap from talking to reading happens when a child starts to see how written letters stand for
the
sounds of speech. It's like learning a code. It's called phonics. Teachers call this knowledge of how
letters represent sounds "phonics." Children can start learning about phonics when they are about
four
years old. That's when they start to pay more attention to letters and words in books. They will learn
a
lot about phonics up through first grade. In second grade, they should know most phonic rules.
How can Dad help?
Words are everywhere. Think of every word as a chance to help your child become a better reader.
Look for words on signs, maps, billboards, cereal boxes,money, and birthday cards. Point out words
to your child wherever you see them. Say them out loud. Take time to sound them out and show how
the letters are combinations of letters make sounds. For example, standing at a street corner, watch
for the sign to turn from " WALK" to " DON'T WALK," and see who can shout the word "DON'T" first!
3. Word Power
If your child lives to the ripe old age of 100, she could learn more than 20 new words a day and
never know them all. Of course, no human being knows every single word of English. But the more
words a person knows, the better he can read and speak. It's called vocabulary. Teachers call the
knowledge of words, and what they mea, "vocabulary." You can start building a child's vocabulary
from day one, when you say your daughter's name or point to a giraffe in a book (and say "giraffe"
out loud). A child needs to know about 1,900 basic words to communicate. Most first graders know
about 10,000 words.
How can Dad help?
Building a vocabulary is like building a strong foundation, brick by brick. See a helicopter flying
overhead? Having spaghetti squash for dinner the first time? Going to Cincinnati to visit your
brother? Point all these new words out to your child. Try adding three new words every day (when
you go for walks, read the newspaper together, or watch a movie). The world is full of new things to
learn and explore. You, dad, are the best tour guide out there!
4. Reading Smoothly & Easily
Remember when you first tried driving a stick shift? How the car stalled? The jerky motion you
thought would tear the engine apart? That's what early reading is like. You might have heard your
son or daughter trying to read a page, getting stuck on words. That's normal for young readers but,
like driving, the goal is to move ahead smoothly and easily. It's call fluency. Teachers call the ability
to read accurately and quickly "fluency." Fluent readers recognize lots of words on sight, without
having to sound them out. Eventually, they get so fluent they can look at groups of words and get
their meaning right away. Fluent readers sound natural when they read out loud. They can focus on
the meaning of what they are reading, rather than trying to decode word by word.
How can Dad help?
This one is easy: the way to fluency is to listen to your child read the same pages repeatedly until
your child smoothes out all the "bumps in the road."
5. Knowing What It All Means
We read for a reason. To get swept away by a great story. Or find out what happened in last
nights game. Or figure out how to put together a bike. There is no point to reading if it doesn't help
us to understand something. It's called comprehension. Teachers call the ability to understand what
you read "comprehension." Does your child understand the details, the meaning, and the ideas
behind what she is reading?
How can Dad help?
Ask questions. It's great to know whether your young reader really understands what he reads. It
stimulates his brain to think and ask questions himself. When your reading a story with your child
stop and ask questions once in awhile: why did the character do that? What will happen next? What
would you do in that situation? Don't just ask questions about books-do it about everything you see
and do with your child- from what's for dinner to what the coach should do on the next play.