Parents will find books, sites, and ideas to teach children to read. I offer consulting to parents helping their children learn to read. Learn about ways to support an early reader and what works when teaching children to read. I own a business called Parent and Child Reading and write a blog called Beginning Reading Help.

1. Parent and Child Reading
What works with early readers?
Make informed choices.
Make learning fun and effective.
Your time is valuable.
Your child's time is valuable.
Let's get started . . .

2. The National Reading Panel published a report in 2000
documenting what works when teaching reading.
Publications and information for parents and teachers
can be found on The National Reading Panel's website.
The National Reading Panel
http://www.nationalreadingpanel.org/

3. 5 Reading Skills Good Readers Combine
Phonological Awareness: A reader knows speech is made
of individual sounds and can hear and say those sounds.
Knowledge of Phonics and Word Recognition: A
reader uses rules and memory to sound out and read words.
Fluent Reading: A reader quickly recognizes words, reads
like a person speaks, and focuses on meaning.
Reading Comprehension: A reader has a purpose for
reading, monitors for understanding while reading, and checks
for understanding after reading.
Vocabulary Knowledge: Vocabulary knowledge is built
through experiences, conversations, and reading. A reader can
learn new words while reading by using word parts, attending to
context clues, or using a dictionary.

4. I'm a teacher, reading tutor, turned parent
reading consultant.
Why?
This is the way I can help the MOST children
learn to read.
I'm a parent too. I know all the hats you wear
and know the value of your time.

5. I've sifted through the research, studies, and
resources to bring you what works.
Here are my babies. They are all readers. They all learned to read a little
differently. It was a joy to help them learn to read. I love helping other
parents feel this joy. Thanks for taking this journey with me.

6. Good News:
Most children will learn to read easily if given
good books and a little support.
If a child experiences problems learning to
read, early help prevents most problems.
I can direct you to effective help
by teaching you, giving you resources, or
referring you to a specialist.

7. Good teaching and combining reading skills
early is what is needed for early readers.
A reader who ignores one or more reading
skills can usually read early reader books
but will show signs of difficulty in the middle
of first grade.
It is difficult for a child to change their way of thinking and
reading. I experienced this with my daughter.
My daughter ignored sounding out words.
She had many words memorized, and she guessed at others.

8. Bad News:
The longer a child ignores a reading skill the harder it is
for a child to combine reading skills even after a new
skill is learned. The brain has already practiced reading
without that skill.

9. I'd love to work personally with you.
You can save money by purchasing a card.
My consulting fee is $40 per hour.
($10 per fifteen minute block of time)
consulting
Not ready to try consulting?
I'll share what I can with you in this presentation.
I'll cover four of the five reading skills and ways
you can help your child use these skills.

10. Sounds or Phonological Awareness
Myth:
If a child can speak he can make and hear the sounds
needed to read and spell.
Truth:
Hearing and making separate sounds in words is a
skill. It comes easily to some but not to others.
Phonological awareness can be practiced and taught.
Applying phonics rules and sounding out words
is nearly impossible without the ability to hear
and make separate sounds.

11. There are a number of skills involved in phonological awareness.
Chart for Phonological Awareness Skills by Age
There are many ways to teach and practice phonological
awareness. We can work together to find out which activities
would be the most helpful and fun for you and your family.
Sometimes less is better.
Phonological Awareness Activities and Information
Finding a few activities and repeating them is usually the most
effective way to improve phonological awareness.

12. Knowledge of Phonics and Word Recognition
Combining phonics books and early reader books while teaching
phonics and a few high frequency words is my recommended
approach to teaching early readers.
Find good books and know how to teach phonics. If you aren't
interested in teaching phonics there are a few online reading sites
and programs I like. Reading Horizons has free phonics training
for parents.
My Parent and Child Reading Assistance website has links to
books I recommend for early readers and some online reading
sites you will find helpful.
Books and Sites for Early Readers

13. Fluent Reading
Myth:
Fluent reading is fast reading.
Fact:
There's a lot going on in an early reader's brain. Early
readers need time to process sounds into words.
Then group words into meaningful thoughts. Early
readers often are slow. They sometimes need
to repeat parts of their reading to get back into the
flow of understanding what is being read.
Fluent reading happens with time and practice reading. One of the best
ways to increase fluent reading is to encourage early readers to read books
they have read once and enjoy at their reading level multiple times.

14. Reading Comprehension
This reading skill is especially important to me. It's
the skill I personally ignored until I was halfway
through college. I would read entire pages of text, and
most of the time I couldn't remember what I read.
Then I'd reread the same material and some
information would stick in my brain. Somehow
my brain rewired through practice reading, but it took
time and effort. Now I love reading and have no
problems remembering what I read. I've learned to be
engaged while reading.

15. Early readers can be taught to find meaning in what is
read or read to them. They need to be actively
involved in what is being read. Pictures are created in
their minds, thoughts occur, and emotions are felt.
7 Keys to Comprehension is a book I recommend to
parents looking for ways to boost their children's
reading comprehension.
7 Keys to Comprehension

16. A successful reader combines all reading skills,
adjusts speed, and makes changes to thinking
or words read to make sense of what is being
read.
Parents are able to support their children one on
one and are in a position to teach their children to
use their skills and trust their own judgement.

17. Be patient.
Let your child know you are his or her audience.
You expect the story you hear to make sense,
so you expect your child to fix anything that is confusing.
You can explain it like this. . .
As you listen to a story there's a movie playing in your head.
If something is not read correctly, the
movie in your head gets fuzzy or stops.
Ask your child to make a movie in his or her head too.
Hopefully your child will fix his or her reading
or ask for help when something stops making sense.
Let your child know if something didn't make sense to you.
Give your child time to use and combine reading skills.
Wait for your child to ask for help before pointing out
a mistake or jumping in to show how to read a word .

18. What Can Consulting Do For You?
You will have a home reading plan, and you will
enjoy helping your child learn to read.
You will learn about and choose from effective activities like . . .
using magnetic letters
flashcards with phonics rules
shared reading
journal writing
meaningful spelling practice
list writing
encouraging repeated reading
improving reading comprehension
choosing good books
phonological awareness activities
supporting your child's reading