Teaching your kids reading fluency
Children in Grades 1-3 who are learning to read usually focus mostly on saying words (also known as decoding) with some efforts for understanding the whole text.
An important skills in reading involves the ability to read quickly and smoothly. This is known as fluency in reading. Some students have problems getting their fluency working.
Parents can help their children develop fluency with several different, simple techniques. Each technique when employed needs to be used at least 20 times in order to have the desired effects. All three have shown to work well: — Neurological Impress — Chomsky Listen & Read Along — Repeated Reading This week we’ll focus on the Neurological Impress Method, which helps teach reading to your child at home. NIM combines seeing, hearing, and speaking for simultaneous learning. No special training is required. All you need is some age appropriate reading material (two or three grade levels below your child's actual grade level is recommended.) Read aloud Sit so your voice is close to your child's ear, then read the passage out loud, together. You should read a little faster than your child can manage at first. The idea is to train him or her to keep up. Repeat sentences and paragraphs until your child is comfortable with the technique and develops a sense of accomplishment. It can take just three minutes in some cases (longer in others) to get the ball rolling. Keep reading and don't correct It takes very little instruction, but remember never to correct your child. He will hear his own mistakes and correct them by listening to your voice as he goes. Don't stop to ask questions of your child and don't entertain his questions until the session is over. The exercise is meant to build a correct reading style that will be conducive to accuracy down the road.
The finger guide As you read together, move your finger along with the words in a smooth, continuous fashion. This gives the child a clear target to look at. It keeps his eyes from straying all over the page and helps establish his grasp of the left-right progression of text. In time, he can take over the finger function. Stay synchronized It's crucial to ensure that your voice is synchronized to the speed at which your finger moves across the page. Your finger should be under the word you are reading at all times. As an experienced reader you may tend to look ahead and run your finger ahead of where their voice is. With the NIM it is essential that the finger movements, voice, and words all be synchronized. Pick up the pace! You need to periodically speed up the rate at which you cover material so your student is forced to read and comprehend faster. Practice reading at a slightly increased pace for few manageable minutes each session.
NIM is a very effective way to teach your child how to read. It takes story time to the next level by involving your youngster directly. If you're patient and increase the demand slowly, over time, your child will acclimate to advanced reading levels naturally and be ready for further advancement in no time at all.
The second set of techniques will follow in the next article.