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All Reading Tips of the Day
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And then...
Start telling a familiar story. Have your child write a new ending.
TV literacy
Using TV Guide or the TV section of the newspaper, have your child select a TV show she'd like to watch that day. Then have her write a "persuasive speech" as to why they should be permitted to watch that show.
Fact or opinion?
Ask your child to read a short editorial printed in your local newspaper and to underline all the facts with a green pencil and all the opinions with an orange pencil.
Picture this
Clip pictures in the newspaper. Ask your child to tell you about the picture or list adjectives to describe the picture.
Alphabet poster
Make an alphabet poster with your child. Print the letters in large type and let your child draw pictures. Capital letters are usually easier for young children to learn first.
Keep different kinds of reading materials at home
To stimulate reading at home, keep reading materials throughout the house, including newspapers, magazines, brochures, etc. This will increase your child's access to books and printed material, and will give him more opportunities to practice reading.
Magazines
Consider subscribing to a children's magazine about a subject interesting to your child. Magazines are a great way for kids to practice reading, to learn new things, and to develop their vocabulary. Libraries also may carry your children's favorite magazines.
Study the same things in different ways and places
Help your child learn about new words or content in a variety of ways. Talk about new vocabulary words several times over the course of the week, in different settings. This will help enrich your child's understanding of the word.
Talk about new words
Did you come across an interesting word while reading with your child? Be sure to provide a simple, kid-friendly definition for it. "Enormous means that something is really, really big."
Listened to a good book lately?
Most libraries have a collection of popular adult and children's titles available for checkout on tape or CD.
Talk about new words
Did you come across an interesting word while reading with your child? Encourage your child to develop their own example: What enormous thing can you think of? Can you think of something really big that you saw today?
Check out your library storytime
There's nothing like hearing a good story read by someone who loves to read aloud. Libraries are terrific settings for story times which often include finger plays, games, songs, and crafts that can be learned and enjoyed again at home.
Try poetry!
Poems are short, provide important practice with reading fluency, and give reluctant readers a sense of accomplishment.
Can you swap a mop?
Write a swap poem. You write one line of a poem, and have your child write the next line, matching the rhythm, and rhyming the last word. (Hint: Use words that are easy to rhyme!)
What comes next?
Read children's poems aloud and leave off the final word, having your child fill in the missing rhyming word: "Run, run, as fast as you can, You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread ____."
Talk about new words
Did you come across an interesting word while reading with your child? Provide a simple, kid-friendly example that makes sense within their daily life:
Remember that really big watermelon we got at the grocery store? That was an enormous watermelon!
Constant conversation
Conversations in the car, when getting dressed, and when getting ready for bed expose children to rich language and sets them on the path to being successful readers.
Sweet calculations
Expose your children to practical math through fun, creative ways like making cookies together and have your children measure and put in the ingredients or create a height chart on an empty wall in your home and measure how your children grow
Letters and sounds everywhere
Point out the letter-sound relationships your child is learning on labels, boxes, newspapers and magazines.
Making music
Try this! Put different amounts of water in glass bottles and experiment with the different tones you can make with them.
