How to help your child succeed at school

Reading should sound much like speech with appropriate phrasing, pauses, stress, rise and fall patterns, and general expressiveness. A fluent reader - someone who reads with appropriate speed and accuracy - can concentrate on what a text means and develop comprehension skills, as opposed to just decoding skills. Fluency training is something all parents can do for their child. It is a skill that develops gradually over time and through substantial practice. 

Here are some helpful tips to develop reading fluency at home:

Routine

Establish a routine. 10-20 minutes per day is all that is required.

Choice of Books

Encourage your child to choose books, poems, magazines, comic books, and newspapers that are of interest to them and that are at their reading level so they develop confidence reading independently. 

Strategies

Model reading aloud to your child to provide a good example of fluent reading, using expression and intonation. Your child will not only enjoy listening to you read, but they will develop their language skills and reading comprehension. Audio books can be useful for building vocabulary development and content knowledge. 

Partner Reading or Choral Reading

You and your child take turns reading or you and your child read together at the same time. 

Repetition

Encourage your child to reread their favourite texts to improve fluency, word recognition and comprehension.

Sight Words

You can also review sight words with your child to increase automaticity. You could do 2-3 minute drills with your child a few times a week.

Effort

Keep your child motivated by encouraging and praising them for strengths and their interest in reading, to build confidence and maintain interest.

Laura Leung

Teaching and Learning