Reading Tips for Parents of Children in Kindergarten adapted from Florida Center for Reading Research Spend 15 minutes

every day reading with your child. Depending on your child, you could take turns reading a page at a time, have your child read to you, or echo-read by having your child repeat each sentence as you read it. Before you begin a new book, read the title and look at the cover and pictures and/or chapter titles inside. Ask your child to make a prediction about what he/she thinks the book may be about. After reading the book, review his/her prediction by asking, Was your prediction right? If not, ask What happened instead? Also, at the end of the story/book, have your child talk about what happened at the beginning, the middle, and the end (retelling). Play rhyming games and take turns thinking of words that begin with the same sound and then words that end with the same sound. Play the "say it fast" game. Say a word, one sound at a time, and then have your child say the word at a normal rate. For example, pronounce each sound in the word cat, "/c/ /a/ /t/." Then your child says the word at the normal speed, "cat." Play the "say the word slowly" game. Say a word at normal rate and then have your child say the word slowly, one sound at a time. For example, say the word, "mat." Then your child will say the word slowly, one sound at a time, "/m/ /a/ /t/." To increase your childs vocabulary, you can point to things and ask the child to tell you what they are, or you can stop and explain the meaning of any words in your reading that the child may not understand. Pick out a new vocabulary word from one of the books you are reading with your child or have your child tell you a new word that he/she learned in school. Talk about what the word means then have your child use the word in a new sentence. You can also have your child tell you a new word he/she has learned

every single day. You can add the words to a "my new vocabulary word list" and post it on the refrigerator. Encourage reading fluency by having your child read and reread familiar books. It can also be helpful to have your child read a short passage over several times while you record the time it takes. Children often enjoy seeing if they can improve their time from one reading to the next, and the repeated reading helps to establish a habit of fluent reading. Have your child highlight or underline words that he/she can read from the day's junk mail or newspaper. Have your child read a book to a younger sibling and ask the brother or sister some questions as he/she reads.