When helping your child to read at home there are several strategies which may be used to assist them in 'working out' unknown words - this aspect of reading, reading the words on the page, is known as 'decoding'. Decoding happens in the early stages of reading when children are just beginning their journey. Enabling them to become independent 'decoders' is an essential task. It is important that they feel comfortable taking a risk and trying words for themselves. Lots of this work is done during guided reading sessions in school. Reinforcing this at home will ensure your child becomes a confident reader. Please find below SOME of the strategies which may help:
1. Ask them to look at the picture to help.
2. Ask them to look at the initial letter of the word as a clue.
2. Ask them to look for smaller words within the word- this enables them to 'chunk' the word into more manageable pieces (read 'all' in the word 'small')
3. Ask your child if the word looks like a word they already know e.g. that word looks a little like 'could' and I know you can read 'could'.
4. Ask your child to skip the word and read to the end of the sentence. This enables the child to apply meaning to the word.
6. If your child reads the word incorrectly ask questions like:
Does it make sense?
Does it sound right?
Does it look right?
Of course teachers do not solely teach your child to 'decode'. If we did, this would create mechanical readers who pay no real attention to what the author is telling us. From the outset teachers spend an endless amount of time encouraging your child to engage with the text and understand what is happening. Developing this comprehension capacity is what makes someone a 'true reader'. When assessing reading capacity teachers take into account both decoding AND comprehension ability. Children are only able to move up through reading levels if they can fully understand what they are reading (even if they can read the words on the page with fluency). We have attached some comprehension questions which you can use with your son/daughter to develop their comprehension skills. Please use these when discussing your child's reading at home.
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