IN HER OWN WORDS
Local mother shares challenges, advice for parents
Helen Wang of Walnut is the mother of three young girls. The two oldest children completed a preschool program with LAUP ( see p. 4) that Wang believes prepared them for further education. We spoke to her about the difficulties and rewards of helping her children learn how to read.
Reading by 9: Tell us about the challenges you faced in the beginning.
Helen: One of my kids had trouble trying to get the differences between sounds and the names of the letters. I used a song that says “Ah Ah Ah says the A, buh buh buh says the B” to connect sounds and letters. It made reading more fun and easier for her to remember. The main challenge was sounds. After they got that, it was just a lot of practice.
What advice do you have for parents whose children are learning how to read?
Make booksand read aged I all her wouldit to somethingthe her.to books practice playfullyAt night,by they more.tell yourself.she like her, wouldto“If do. You you ask My won’t learnme oldest needto how read oneto me.” moreread loves That you andme encour-canto more read storiesand My ask secondwith what more childthe book pictures.has a is shorteraboutI try to and attentionmake ask her her span. lookto imagineI at read the her book what shorterfirstwill happen While in reading,it. I stop and ask her what is going to happen next. She will say what she thinks. There is more chatting about the book in between. That will keep her in the loop. Otherwise, she gets distracted. When I see words that they know, I let them read those. If they see too many complicated words they get bored. So I read the rest. When I am quiet and I point to a word, they know I am waiting for them to read it out loud. That is a good way to practice but they don’t feel pushed.
How have those early efforts made a difference in your children’s lives?
It a long helped process,them becomebut once more they confidentget the confidence,about reading. they It are can morebe eager to try difficult words or longer words. Education or achieving certain goals is mostly about practicing and trying it out. Doing it again and again. I think that for them, it is mostly getting the confidence. They are not afraid to try and not afraid to practice after that. For example, once they see they can read the little words, they see it pays off and they are more willing to try. Even with math. They see they need to practice and try it. Not being afraid.