Teach a Child to Read

Index
Introduction Auditory Skills Learning to Read Teaching Alphabet Sounds Teaching How to Rhyme Improving Short Term Memory Putting Sounds Together Reading Selections To, With and By Phonics vs Whole Language Components of Reading Make Your Own Book Literacy Facts Good Books for Kids Literacy Websites for Parents and Teachers Education and Family Info Websites Alphabet List Alphabet Chart Questions & Answers Reading Rescue 1-2-3 About the Author

Introduction
Dedicated to the thousands of children who need to improve their reading skills, and to their parents who want to help them succeed.

The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house all that cold, cold, wet day. I sat there with Sally. We sat there, we two. And I said, "How I wish we had something to do!" -from The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss -

Thirty-eight percent of all fourth graders in the United States can't read this simple poem.1 Is your child one of them? Does your child drone, hesitate, and torture words while reading? He or she is one of 7 million elementary-aged children who is performing below his or her reading potential. Certainly millions of children in America can't be stupid, lazy, or have ADD. Children sitting in the best classrooms in the country struggle with reading. Moms and dads are scratching their heads wondering whether to get a part-time job to pay for tutoring for Jerome or Ashley. This past decade, educators have been fighting a Phonics versus Whole Language reading war. Each side has strong advocates, yet many children still emerge from schools unable to read. Meanwhile, scientists have been busy trying to identify the missing puzzle piece of how children learn to read. Here's some good news: Research indicates that 90 to 95% of all children can learn to read at grade level with proper intervention. You can make a profound difference in your child's ability to read by spending fifteen minutes per day with your son or daughter, using information provided in this website, playing games and reading good books together. So let's begin to help your child improve in reading!

1. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics, "Executive Summary," of The 1998 National Assessment for Educational Progress Reading Report Card for the Nation, NCES 1999-500 (Washington, D.C.: March 1999).

Auditory Skills and Tri-Method Instruction

A Weak Link is Auditory Skills Researchers have been looking inside children's brains while they do literacy tasks. Using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) they discovered that poor readers showed differences in brain activities than those who are literate. Some important brain areas are underactivating. A common weakness is in auditory discrimination skills. For example, many poor readers do not "hear" differences in letter sounds. To them, the five short vowels sound almost exactly alike. This causes poor readers to expend more effort for less return. They have a harder time rapidly and accurately recalling letter sounds. Inefficient letter-sound recall makes it more difficult for these children blend letter sounds to make syllables or words. Finally, their brains are inefficient in recognizing and recalling words. But their brains work well in other areas, which explains why they can be bright, yet functionally illiterate. The good news is that children's brains are not etched in stone. Auditory skills and letter sound memory can be strengthened. Your son or daughter can become a good reader with your help. The Tri-Method Instruction to Literacy Success In a perfect world, children would learn how to read using a combination of three methods of instruction: auditory training, phonics, and whole language. It's clear from research that using one of these methods will help only a few children. In fact, using two out of three methods will still leave numerous children illiterate. However, when auditory training, phonics and whole language are merged, literacy rates increase significantly. Hopefully, you will see all three methods reflected in curriculum and used in American classrooms soon.

Learning to Read
Learning How to Read Begins in Children's Ears Most people think children learn how to read through their eyes. But reading is actually learned through the ears. Parents lay a foundation for success in reading by talking to a child, reading books to her, and playing auditory games such as rhyming. The more books you read, the bigger her vocabulary becomes. A bigger vocabulary allows her to recognize lots of words while she reads. If you've read books to her about cheetahs and warthogs, it's more likely she can read those words when her teacher gives a homework assignment about the Serengeti Plains. Learning to Read, Reading to Learn What is the normal sequence for children learning how to read? From birth to age three, children listen to lots of words spoken and learn how to talk. Children, aged three to four years old have growing vocabularies, and they learn how to rhyme. In first grade children are taught how to blend letter sounds together to "sound out" words and memorize sight words. They begin reading simple sentences. Second and third graders learn how to read "chapter" books and read fluently with comprehension. Every once in awhile a parent says to me, "My son can't read because he's lazy." I don't agree with that. A child who can't read is missing important auditory tools: He can't rhyme She doesn't know the short vowel sounds-caused by her inability to hear differences in short vowel sounds. (Short vowels: a-apple, e-elephant, i-igloo, o-octopus, u-umbrella) He can't put word parts together to make words-a skill used in sounding out new words. She has slow recall of letter sounds. She sees letter w and can't remember what it says. These traits are common to most children who struggle in reading. These are not traits of "laziness" but of auditory and memory deficits. Do the following games and activities to fill in your child's auditory gaps which in turn will improve his reading skills.

Teaching Alphabet Sounds

Help Your Child Improve Auditory Skills by Teaching Alphabet Letter Sounds In order to read, every child must know the sounds of the alphabet letters. He must be able to recall them quickly - he sees the letter and says the sound without hesitation. 1. Test your child's knowledge of alphabet letter sounds by using the provided Alphabet List. Point to each letter and ask your child to, "Tell me what this letter says." *The alphabet list has no pictures, so your child has to rely totally on memory. *You are asking your child to tell you the letter sound, not the letter name. *Write down letter sounds that he or she misses. This is a good place to begin fixing your child's auditory gaps. 2. If your child needs to learn most of the alphabet letter sounds, help her create her own Alphabet Book. Staple some pieces of paper together and ask your child to draw pictures of items that begin with the sound of each alphabet letter.

3. You can also teach alphabet letters and letter sounds by using an Alphabet Chart with pictures. *Be sure to point to each letter as you are saying the letter name and letter sound. *Review the alphabet chart once a day and pretty soon your child will be able to point to each letter and say the sounds himself! *I have an alphabet chart tacked on the wall at kid-height of my son's bedroom so he can look at it. 4. When you are teaching a letter sound, be careful not to add an "uh" sound at the end of the letter. For example, letter s should sound like a snake hissing, with no throat sound. Letter s says 'sss,' not 'suh.' If your child learns letters 'c', 'a', 't' as sounding 'kuh,' 'aah,' and 'tuh,' those sounds will not come together to say cat!

Children have different learning rates. Your child may need lots of direct instruction to learn the alphabet sounds. Don't forget, he will learn letter sounds more quickly with a short daily review.

Teaching How to Rhyme

Help Your Child Improve Auditory Skills by Teaching How to Rhyme Knowing how to rhyme will help your child read word "families" such as let, met, pet, wet, and get. Notice that rhyming words have same sound endings but different beginning sounds. Some words don't look the same: ache, cake, steak but they rhyme. To teach your child how to rhyme, play a game. Body Name Game How to Play: Begin by modeling how to rhyme. Point to parts of your body, say a rhyming word and your child should say the body part. This puts rhyming into her ears with a visual cue (pointing). If you point to your nose and say rose, she will automatically say nose. 1. Tell your child, "We are going to play a rhyming game. Rhyming words have the same sound endings. I'm going to point to something on my body, and say a word. You're going to say the body part that rhymes. Okay?" 2. Give her two examples: "I'm pointing to my leg, and I say beg. You say leg. I'm pointing to my nose. I say rose, and you say nose. 3. Here's a list of body parts and rhyming words: deer-ear go-toe put-foot bye-eye see-knee bear-hair fin-chin band-hand peek-cheek farm-arm feel-heel

pail-nail
sack-back 4.

gum-thumb deck-neck

5. When your child is able to do this, turn it around. Point to your knee and your child will say a rhyming word such as bee or me! When your child rhymes body parts, play this game: 1. Say, "I'm going to say a word and you'll tell me as many rhyming words as you can. I say bee." Your child then says words such as "he, she, we three, free, or agree." 2. Choose one-syllable words that are easy to rhyme with such as had, rat, man, fall, ten, red, big, fill, hop, dog, bug and sun. All of these have multiple words that rhyme.

Improving Short Term Memory

Help Your Child Improve Her Short Term Memory by Playing the "I Went to the Market" Game This game helps improve your child's short-term memory. She will have to remember several sounds in the correct order to sound out new words such as, fr-o-g put together says frog. How to Play: 1. Read this short poem to your child: Johnny went to the market. Johnny went to the store. But when poor Johnny got there, he forgot what he went there for. Momma gave him a list. Momma gave it to him twice. And what Momma wanted was a big bag of rice... 2. Now say, "Momma wanted a bag of rice and carrots." 3. Your child repeats that and adds another item, "Momma wanted rice and carrots and a cake." 4. It's your turn. "Momma wanted rice, carrots, cake and a tulip." Take turns until someone gets an item out of order or forgets an item. Make it fun by adding items such as a football or alligators. 5. Another version of this game is to highlight a letter sound. Let's say your child doesn't know w sound. Play this game thinking of items that begin with w such as, "Momma wanted a walrus, walnuts, wink and a wand."

Putting Sounds Together

Help Your Child Put Sounds Together to Make Words by Playing "Connect Three." This game will help your child connect sounds to make words. This skill is used when he sounds out new words. How to Play: 1. Tell your child, "I'm going to say three sounds. I want you to put the sounds together and say a word. For example, I say c-a-t and you say cat. I say d-o-g and you say dog." This is a little tricky on your part because you have to think of words that can be said in three parts. Words such as me or go won't work. Longer words such as party can be par-t-y or p-art-y. You might want to practice ahead of time to say words in three parts. I have trouble thinking of words, so I usually look around the room for good ideas such as l-am-p or win-d-ow. 2. Here's a list to get you started: begin with nouns-things that can be visualized and advance to words that don't create mental pictures. m-o-m b-ir-d h-o-t h-i-m d-a-d s-u-n gr-ee-n c-a-n d-e-sk pi-zz-a dr-in-k w-i-ll br-ai-n mo-n-ey c-ol-d a-n-d tr-e-e c-am-p st-o-p b-u-t y-ar-d t-en-t w-i-n fr-o-m

Getting Back into Books and Real Stories Since the goal is improving your child's reading skills, we need to get her into books. Choose four words from a short reading selection (one page of a book) and say each word in three parts to your child. Ask her to put the words together. Now help her find those words on the page, and read them together. You are making a connection between the words she put together and what they look like in print.

Reading Selections
What is a Reading Selection? A common mistake that adults make is to insist that a child read a whole book. It is far better to help a child reread a short selection to excellence. A short selection is one or two pages from an easy book or one paragraph from a higher level book. If the selection is on the correct readability level for your child, he should make no more than one or two mistakes per twenty words. Any more than that will cause him frustration and will actually block his reading progress.3 Don't make him read it cold turkey either or he'll sound like a car starting up on a winter morning - bumpy and hesitant. We don't want your child to practice bad reading. That's why you want to do the following: 1. Read the short selection to him twice. 2. Read the same selection with him twice. 3. Finally, ask him to read it by himself twice.

To, With, and By is a fabulous repeated reading technique that will catapult your child forward in reading skills.4 It will help him learn and apply sight words more quickly, helps him to practice fluent reading and improves his comprehension-all the important skills of reading. Some parents say, "But she's memorizing the selection!" Well, when was the last time you used phonics to sound out words while reading? Phonics is used as a last resort when bumping into unknown words such as cruciate ligament. When reading you usually recognize words by sight. Phonic skills are necessary to jump-start the process of learning to read. But reading by using sight words is more efficient. You might be thinking, "My child isn't getting enough practice if she isn't reading a whole book." My answer is, your child gets excellent practice when you do To, With, and By in a short selection. A little bit of good reading is a lot better than a whole lot of bad reading. Have I convinced you to do To, With, and By? Your child might not be thrilled at first. However, once she gets the hang of it, her attitude will improve and her reading skills will skyrocket.
3. Edward Fry, How to Teach Reading: For Teachers, Parents, Tutors (Laguna Beach: Laguna Beach Educational Books, 1995), 20. 4. Barbara E. R. Swaby, Journey Into Literacy: A Workbook for Parents and Teachers of Young Children (Colorado Springs: Swaby Books Publisher, 1992).

Phonics vs Whole Language

Phonics
Phonics is one method of teaching children how to read. Children are taught how to "sound out" new words by learning the following items: Consonant letters sounds: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z Blend sounds: br, cr, dr, fr, gr, pr, tr, wr, bl, cl, fl, gl, pl, sl, scr, str, sm, sn, sp, sc, sk, Short vowel sounds: a, e, i, o, u Always teach short vowel sounds first: a - apple, e - elephant, i- igloo, o octopus, u - umbrella) Digraph sounds: sh, ch, th, wh Two letters combine to make a totally different sound. Double vowel sounds: ai, ea, ee, oa These pairs say the name of the first vowel. Other double vowel sounds: oi, oo, ou, ow Silent e: Silent e is bossy, it doesn't say anything but makes the vowel before it say its own name. R controlled vowel sounds: ar, er, ir, or, ur Notice that er,ir and ur make the same sound. Phonics is a series of rules that children have to memorize and apply when they are sounding out new words. Children are taught a rule, i.e. Silent e, and then they practice reading words with Silent e. Then children do skill sheets at their desk highlighting the Silent e rule. Children must learn letter sounds to an automatic level - they must be able to see the letter(s) and say the sound immediately. Critics point out that the reading/practice materials aren't very interesting, "See Spot run. Run Spot run. Spot runs fast." It is a contrived atmosphere of reading practice using the phonic rules. Here's the bigger problem: children who struggle in reading memorize phonic rules, and then are unable to apply phonic rules to connected print. To remedy this problem, two things must happen: 1. Only the most important phonic rules should be taught in the least complicated manner possible. For example, in teaching vowel sounds, it is distracting to talk about "short versus long" vowels. Instead, a child should be taught the short vowel sounds first. Then when a child encounters a long vowel as in the word find, tell him, "That vowel says its own name."

2. Phonics must be taught in a way that allows these children to immediately practice phonic information in real stories. Every time a child is taught new phonic information, he should be given a short reading selection that highlights the phonic rule. Completing a skill sheet is good, but even better is to help the child practice applying the phonic skill to connected print. A child cannot learn to read without proper knowledge in phonics. It is the foundation for success in reading. She will succeed to read if she knows phonics.

Whole Language
Whole language is a "whole - part" method of teaching children to read. (Phonics is a "part - whole" reading method.) Teachers use connected print to introduce reading to children. Children are encouraged to memorize words as whole units. They do hands-on activities such as writing in journals, and analyzing words in context, by using pictures, for meaning. Whole language has strengths in that children begin to write early. They are involved in connected print, and they are using personal language skills making the process of reading more interesting. The weakness of whole language methods is that some children never get a full phonic foundation. They are unable to decode unfamiliar words. Research has shown that good readers always use phonics to decipher new words. Reading is best taught using a combination of three methodologies: Auditory training - training for the ears to prepare the child's brain for phonics. Phonics - knowledge of letter(s) sounds. Whole Language - immediate application of phonics into connected stories.

Components of Reading
Reading begins in a child's ears. When you talk to your child, you are putting the sounds of the English language into his brain. His brain is properly wired to learn to talk back to you. Over time his speaking vocabulary grows to thousands of words. The more you talk, sing, and read to your child, the bigger his speaking vocabulary will become. Here is the surprise: children's brains are not automatically wired for reading. Your child needs your help to become a successful reader. Learning how to read begins when your child's ears are ready. There are several things you can do to get your child's ears ready. Teach him how to rhyme by playing rhyming games, or reading rhyming poems to him. Play some of the other games presented in this website. His ears are ready when he can rhyme and play the games successfully. Teach your child alphabet letter names and sounds. This is the beginning of phonics. Phonics is learning what letters and letter combinations "say." It is an essential part of learning how to read. Don't assume that your child learned all the letter sounds in school. It is likely that she does not know the vowel sounds because they sound so similar. Other important phonic combinations are listed in the sidebar. When your child learns letter sounds, teach her to "blend" them together to "sound out" new words. Knowledge of phonics will help her to read many words that follow phonic rules. The best way to incorporate phonics is to find a short reading selection that has a lot of "sh" words, for example, and read those words to him. Ask your child to say some words beginning with the "sh" sound. Then teach him to read the short selection. Continue teaching phonics by finding other short reading selections, each highlighting one of the letter combinations from the phonic list. Please notice that letters and letter combinations appear in different places in words. Vowels often occur in the middle of words. "Wh" occurs at the beginning of words and "Ch" appears at the beginning or end of words. Phonic skills must be put into connected print in order to become useful. Connected print is short selections in magazines or books. Two books, both by Dr. Seuss, have wonderful selections to help a child apply a phonic skill by reading connected print. 1. Hop on Pop, an easier selection by Dr. Seuss (1963), has the following selections: o o o o o pages 3-5 short u "Up pup pup is up." pages 22-24 short e "Red Red They call me Red." pages 26-33 short a "Pat cat Pat sat on a cat." "Dad is sad. Very, very sad." pages 40-41 short o "We like to hop on top of Pop." pages 56-57 short i "Will is up hill still."

2. One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, by Dr. Seuss (1960), has these selections:

o o o o o

pages 10-11, 18-19 short u "They run for fun in the hot, hot sun." pages 26-27 ea words "Oh dear! I cannot hear." pages 30-31 oo words "He took a look at the book on the hook." pages 40-43 short i "It is fun to sing if you sing with a Ying." pages 48-49 short e "You never met pet as wet as they let this wet pet get."

You should help your child read a new reading selection every other day. This is incorporating whole language methods of learning how to read. Using "To, With, and By" teach your child how to read a couple of sentences or one paragraph until it sounds great. The whole language method helps your child learn to read "sight words." Sight words must be memorized because they don't follow phonic rules. (Half of all words in the English language are sight words.) Best of all, using To, With, and By will improve your child's fluency and comprehension. The goal of reading is comprehension. When your child is able to sound out new words, has memorized a bunch of sight words, reads fluently and understands what he read, he has learned how to read!

Make Your Own Book

Make Your Own Book Children struggling in reading tend to stay in the emergent phase longer. They need stacks of easy-to-read books for practice. There aren't many books in this category, and the cost adds up quickly. So help your child to make his own books. He'll be able to read them since the words came from within and he'll be proud of his own creations. 1. Put two pieces of paper together, fold in half and staple the folded edge. 2. Ask your child to think of a topic such as favorite animals, toys, vacation trips, birthday presents, friends or a movie. 3. If your child doesn't write well, he'll dictate the words while you write them down. If he has some writing skills, help him to spell the words. 4. Write the title on the front page and his name - Tigers by Jerome.

5. Write one short sentence per page.

6. Try to keep the words as close as possible to what he said. We want him to be able to match what he said to what it looks like in print.

7. Read the book to him running your finger under the words while reading. Then ask him to read the book to you several times. Let him draw pictures to complete his masterpiece. 8. Keep his books together in a basket or box. He will read them over and over to anyone who listens. These books will increase his sight word vocabulary and increase his interest in reading.

Literacy Facts
1. In 1998, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tested children nationwide for reading skills. The results for reading tests for 4th graders were: Below the most basic level ---38% Proficient -----------------------31% Advanced -----------------------7%
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics. The Executive Summary of the 1998 National Assessment for Educational Progress Reading Report Card for the Nation, NCES 1999-50 (Washington, D.C.: March 1999).

2. In 1998 there were ten million children between seven and eleven years of age who performed below the most basic level of reading achievement.
Population Estimates Program, Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau Washington, D.C. 20233

3. It is very important to note that a substantial number of children from highly literate households and who have been read to by their parents since very early in life also have difficulties learning to read.
Lyon, G. Reid. "Report on Learning Disabilities Research." Prepared Statement to the Committee on Education and the Workforce. U.S. House of Representatives, APA Science Advocacy (July 10, 1997).

4. In 1998, students who reported reading more pages daily in school and for homework had higher average scale scores than students who reported reading fewer pages daily.
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics. The Executive Summary of the 1998 National Assessment for Educational Progress Reading Report Card for the Nation (Washington, D.C.: March 1999).

5. In 1998, students who reported watching three or fewer hours of television each day had higher average reading scores than students who reported watching more television.
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics. The Executive Summary of the 1998 National Assessment for Educational Progress Reading Report Card for the Nation (Washington, D.C.: March 1999).

6. National Institute of Health studies are finding that at least 95% of even the poorest readers can learn to read at grade level if they are given proper

instruction in sound-letter relationships.

Lally, Kathy and Debbie M. Price. "Learning How We Read." Palm Beach Post, West Palm Beach, Florida (January 4, 1998): plA+.

7. Having kids read a lot is one of the crucial components of becoming a good reader. Young readers need to become practiced at recognizing letters and sounds. The only way to get good at it is to practice.
"Reading Research Read to Go." National Educational Association Today 17 no. 4 (Jan. 1999) 6

8. The average reader spent about 6 minutes per day reading connected text. Children with reading problems spent about one minute per day. The amount of time students spent on worksheets did not relate to gains in reading achievement. What appeared to be most relevant was time spent reading connected print.
Stahl, Steven A., Ann Duffy-Hester, et al. "Everything You Wanted to Know About Phonics (But Were Afraid to Ask.)" Reading Research Quarterly 33, no. 3 (July-September 1998):338-356.

9. Four year old children who were read one alphabet book per day significantly improved in their awareness of phonemes - tiny letter sounds that make up words.
Ibid.

10. Children who struggle in vain with reading in the first grade soon decide that they neither like nor want to read. (Juel, 1998)
National Research Council. Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children. Catherine Snow, Susan Burns, Peg Griffin, eds. (Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1998).

Good Books for Kids

Easiest to Read Books Who Ate it? by Taro Gomi (Millbrook Press, 1991) Big Long Animal Song by Mike Artell (Good Year Books, 1994) My Puppy by Inez Greene (Good Year Books, 1994) Mrs. Sato's Hens by Laura Min (Good Year Books, 1994) The Fox on the Box by Barbara Gregorich (School Zone, 1984) The Gum on the Drum by Barbara Gregorich (School Zone, 1984) Jog, Frog, Jog by Barbara Gregorich (School Zone, 1984) I Want a Pet by Barbara Gregorich (School Zone, 1984) Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss (Random House, 1963) Bob Books by Bobby Lyn Maslen (Scholastic, 1976)

Easy to Read Books Cat Traps by Molly Coxe (Random House, 1996) Big Egg by Molly Coxe (Random House, 1997) Go, Dog, Go! by P.D. Eastman (Beginner Books, 1961) The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss (Random House, 1968) Great Day for Up! by Dr. Seuss (Beginner Books, 1974) One Day in the Jungle by Colin West (Candlewick Press, 1995) "What is that?" said the Cat by Grace Maccarone (Scholastic, 1995) Jeb's Barn by Andrea Butler (Good Year Books, 1994) Mouse and Owl by Joan Hoffman (School Zone, 1991) Star Wars, Anakin to the Rescue by Cecilia Venn (Random House, 1999)

Beginning Readers Clifford the Big Red Dog - (Series) by Norman Bridwell (Scholastic Inc., 1963) Thunderhoof by Syd Hoff (Harper & Row, 1971) Dark Night, Sleepy Night by Harriet Ziefert (Viking Kestrel, 1988) Good Hunting, Blue Sky by Peggy Parish (Harper & Row, 1988) "Pardon?" said the Giraffe by Colin West (Lippincott, 1986) A Snake Mistake by Mavis Smith (HarperCollins, 1991) Going to Sleep on a Farm by Wendy Cheyette Lewison (Dial Books for Young Readers, 1992) Henry Goes West by Robert Quackenbush (Parents Magazine Press, 1994) See How They Grow Fox (Dorling Kindersley, 1992)

See How They Grow Pig (Dorling Kindersley, 1993) See How They Grow Rabbit (Lodestar, 1991) Willie's Wonderful Pet by Mel Cebulash (Scholastic Inc., 1993) Dinosaur Babies by Lucille Recht Penner (Random House, 1991) Wake Up Sun! by David L. Harrison (Random House, 1986) If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff (Harper & Row, 1985) Dragon Gets By by Dav Pilkey (Orchard Books, 1991) Where's My Teddy? By Jez Alborough (Candlewick Press, 1992) Fortunately by Remy Charlip (Four Winds Press, 1986) Bears are Curious by Joyce Milton (Random House, 1998) The Big Sneeze by Ruth Brown (Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 1985) One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss (Beginner Books, 1960)

Literacy Web Sites for Parents and Teachers

Help Your Child Build Speedy Brain and Reading Skills (http://WowzaBrain.com) o o Click on Podcasts Click on ePackages

Educational Resources Information Center (http://reading.indiana.edu/) o o o o Click on Family Info Center Click on News About Reading Click on Online Information Click on Free Phonics Course

America Reads Challenge (http://www.ed.gov/inits/americareads/) o o o o Click on Resources/Research (at top) Start Early, Finish Strong: How to Help Every Child Become a Reader Ready*Set*Read (English and Spanish) Simple Things You Can Do

Learning Disabilities Online (http://www.ldonline.org/) o o Click on LD Topics Click on Reading and Dyslexia

Reading Rockets (http://www.readingrockets.org/) o o Click on Articles from A-Z Click on Brain and Learning

Help My Child Read (http://www.ed.gov/parents/read/resources/edpicks.jhtml) o o Click on Parents Click on Motivating Kids to Read

Reading is Fundamental (http://www.rif.org/parents/) o o Click on Parents Click on Motivating Kids to Read

Education and Family Information Websites

Help Your Child Build Speedy Brain and Reading Skills (http://WowzaBrain.com) o o Click on Podcasts Click on ePackages

edHelper.com - Membership (http://www.edhelper.com) Lesson Plans - Worksheets - Teacher's Lesson Plans - WebQuests - Primary Teacher Resources - Math Lesson Plans - Writing Lesson Plans - Reading Lesson Plans - Science Lesson Plans - Technology Lesson Plans - Social Studies Lesson Plans - and more ...

Sites For Teachers (http://www.sitesforteachers.com) "The Net's Best Resource for Teachers."

Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov/families/) Resources for Kids and Families o o Click on Lifelong Literacy Click on Encouraging Reading

Home School Top 100 Educational Websites (http://www.homeschool.com/articles/top100-2008/default.asp) Reading, Writing, Math, Science, Crafts, etc.

Best Websites for Parents (http://www.more4kids.info/549/best-parenting-websites/)

Alphabet List

Alphabet Chart

Questions and Answers

Here are some questions asked by parents, grandparents, caregivers and teachers. Question: I know my son can read lots of words from a list. But when I pull out a book, he freaks. He can't read words in a book. Answer: I have met children who read words on lists, and aren't able to recognize the same words on the page of a book. Remember how you used to feed pureed peaches, spoonful by spoonful to your child? This is similar to helping him read pages in a book. Choose some phrases-two or three words, from a reading selection. Write them on note cards, and teach them to your child. Next, write or type two sentences from the selection on a piece of paper. Using the To, With, and By technique help your child to read the sentences. Open the book and show him where the sentences are located. Ask him to read them to you. Let him compare the same sentences written on paper and in the book. Now type a couple of paragraphs from his favorite book onto a sheet of paper. Using To, With and By, help him to read these sentences. Then have him read them from his book. You are making a connection between words on lists and sentences in books. He will realize that he can read sentences in books-with your help. His resistance to books will decrease over time.

Question: My child cries when I ask her to read a book with me. Will this ever stop? Answer: My daughter cried when she was learning how to read. It was a struggle every day to get her to the table. (As you can imagine, this was not our favorite time of day!) Your child needs to know the hard part of reading is at the beginning, and it will get easier as she practices. Take her to the store to choose some candy or stickers. These will be used for daily rewards for her efforts in reading. Praise her for little victories. Your child will hear herself improve over time. She may enjoy making homemade books. Create success in her reading by doing To, With, and By on a selection every day. After a while she will be less afraid to tackle new selections. She will be pulling your sleeve and asking, "When are we going to the library?" And you will be able to put away the Kleenex box.
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Question: My daughter mixes up letters d and b, and says the word saw when she sees the word was. Does she have dyslexia? Answer: Dyslexia is broadly defined in the dictionary as "an impairment of the ability to read."1 Some scientists describe dyslexia as being a deficiency in the language system that processes the sounds of speech, in the brain.2 Many children

who seem to have dyslexic-like tendencies begin to read better when they do activities that help to increase their auditory skills. Mixing up letters d and b is a visual confusion, not knowing which way the "tummy" of the letter faces-to the left or right. (This has nothing to do with auditory issues that earmark a problem with dyslexia.) A child who says dog for bog usually needs practice in knowing left from right. In most children this letter confusion corrects itself by the end of third grade. A child who sees the word was and says saw needs practice in visual discrimination. This can be as simple as writing the words saw and was on note cards. Show your child the note cards, and ask her to tell you differences she sees between the two sight words - was, saw. Or, play the Find That Word game to highlight a chosen word. Find that Word Game

Choose a word that your child often confuses such as was. Write it on a note card. Show your child the note card, and make sure she knows what the word means. Open a children's magazine such as Ranger Rick and ask your child to circle every was on the page. She gets five points for each was she circles, and loses two points for every was she misses.

On a different day, play this same game with the word saw.

Don't let was, saw, b's and d's drive you crazy. Just do a couple of minutes of review each night, and pretty soon your child will know her p's and q's too!
1 Random House Webster's Dictionary, Third Edition, (New York: Ballantine Books, 1998). 2 Sally Shaywitz. "Dyslexia," New England Journal of Medicine 338, no. 5 (January 29, 1998): 307-312.

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Question: My son is in fourth grade. He definitely isn't fluent when reading out loud. Should I make him read out loud every night, or should he be reading silently? Answer: Silent reading is more efficient than reading out loud. Your child can learn to read faster, and possibly have better comprehension when he reads silently. After third grade, the emphasis in school is on silent reading. Therefore, your child should practice five to ten minutes of each: reading out loud and silent reading when you work together on reading skills. It is more difficult to know what's going on when your child is reading silently. You will have to ask questions to monitor his comprehension after he has read a selection silently. Make sure the reading selection is on your child's Independent Reading level-no more than one or two mistakes for every twenty words. For your child to be successful in reading silently, preteach the most important vocabulary words and concepts. This gives him the necessary prior knowledge for good comprehension. Silent reading is an important skill that your child must develop to do well in school. Do some silent reading

yourself while he's reading silently. He might become interested in your book someday.

Question: My child reads easy books. He is eleven years old and he only likes to read Dr. Seuss books. He's not going to get to college this way. Answer: If you are in this position, your child needs your intervention right away. Many parents blame their child for being lazy. They don't realize that their child is missing necessary tools for better reading. You can't build a house without hammer and nails! Begin by looking at his personal gaps in reading skills. Test his knowledge of alphabet letters and sounds. Don't make him work by himself reading books. Create a bridge from Dr. Seuss to fifth-grade books for him. Take time to read short selections using the To, With, and By technique every day. Over time, he will feel more successful in reading. He will discover new topics that interest him. Eventually, The Cat in the Hat will be put in the closet to make room on the shelf for Summer of the Monkeys or The Chronicles of Narnia.

Do you have questions? Please feel free to e-mail Peggy Wilber at: [email protected] Frequently asked questions (FAQ's) will be answered here in the future, so please check back.

Reading Rescue 1-2-3

Reading Rescue 1-2-3 by Peggy Wilber, M.Ed., Prima Publishing, eptember 2000 The author of this web site has put this information, and much more, into a book called Reading Rescue 1-2-3, published by Prima Publishing. It is a hand's on manual geared towards parents, teachers, grandparents and caregivers of the ten million children who struggle in reading. Reading Rescue 1-2-3 can also be used to teach a young nonreader how to read. It contains auditory games to improve children's ear/brain connection, phonic skill sets with cartoon stories that make reading interesting and fun for children, and other whole language applications. This easy-to-follow, step-by-step book paves the way for children to develop better fluency, comprehension, and language skills. Using Reading Rescue 1-2-3 can help your child succeed to read at her grade level or higher.

Click here for more information about Reading Rescue 1-2-3 and to view sample pages from the book.

Look for Reading Rescue 1-2-3 at your local bookstore or click here to order a copy of Reading Rescue 1-2-3

About the Author

Peggy M. Wilber is a teacher, author, and speaker with a mission of helping children learn to read well. She has been diagnosing and remediating elementary and middle school children's reading disorders since 1987. Motivated by an escalation of needy students she co-founded a tutoring program servicing local elementary school students and their families. As Instructional Coordinator, Peggy trained tutors in auditory reading techniques resulting in students advancing two or more reading levels per semester, far outperforming non-tutored peers. Peggy involved parents and grandparents, as valuable resources, by creating Parent Training Seminars. Her Succeed to Read website is based on information presented in these parent seminars. Having conducted seminars during the past three years in public schools, private schools and churches, she is convinced that parents are able to absorb and utilize this information making significant impact on their children's literacy. Reading Rescue 1-2-3, published by Prima Publishing, 2000, and authored by Peggy Wilber, is a complete manual offering auditory training techniques, phonic worksheets, and cartoon stories that help children improve in reading skills. Her education includes a Masters of Education from Boston University and Certification in Early Childhood Reading Instruction from University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, specializing in integrating reading methodologies. Peggy lives in Colorado Springs with her husband, David, and their two children.