I often get questions from parents asking how they can help their child at home. Here are a few of my suggestions:

 

1) Read, Read, Read

I cannot stress enough how important it is to read to your child every day. Even though they are in 3rd grade the research has shown that reading motivation, vocabulary development, background knowledge (or schema as it is known in 3 rd grade), and comprehension are drastically improved when children are read to. It doesn't have to be novels either-- it can be recipes, articles from magazines, the newspaper, labels on food etc. The exposure of more words and the variety of words will help your child in more ways than one. Share with them things that you are currently reading and find something that they are interested in -- from novels to recipes, if they are interested in it, let them read.

 

2) Have them read and write to you

One of the nice perks of children is that they are always willing to help. Ask them to write the grocery list, read it for you at the store or have them find the items you need. I know a lot of children get nervous when reading aloud and we (teachers and parents) tend to jump in and try to help them out. But when we jump in too soon, we mistakenly take aways the opportunity for students to apply the skills that they are learning into the text. So the next time your child is reading to you and gets stuck on a word, here are a few options that you can try.

-Ask them coaching or time?

If they choose COACHING, ask the child what the beginning sound is in the word, what does the word look like, are they are any chunks that they can see in this word? If they try something that isn't right, have them read it in the sentence and ask them if it makes sense in what they are reading.

If they choose TIME- give them a few seconds to try and figure out the word themselves. It often sursprises me how many children WANT to try it on their own, rather than me always supplying them the answer. After a few tries if they are still stuck as them if they want coaching or time again.

 

3) Visit your local library/bookstore

There are usually tons of free resources there for parents, children and teens at the local libraries.

http://www.luzernelibraries.org/

 

 

Additonal Resources

http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/more-reading-resources/reading-tips-parents

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/reading-tips-parents-third-graders

https://kids.usa.gov/parents/reading-and-writing/index.shtml