Ways to Improve Children’s Reading Speed
Question: My daughter is in sixth grade. She is a good reader and understands what she reads. The problem is she is a very slow reader, and I wonder how she is going to do on all the standardized tests that she will be required to take. What can be done to increase her reading speed? - Slow Reader
Answer: The best readers are not always the fastest nor the slowest readers. They are the ones who recognize most words, read most material at a grade-level rate and most importantly understand what they have read. Nevertheless, you are right that on standardized tests an extremely slow reader is going to have problems.
First of all, what is your child’s reading rate that you believe is too slow? At the start of the school year, the child should have been reading about 160 words per minute, and she should improve to about 170 words at the end of the year. If she deviates greatly from these speeds, she needs to improve her rate. This can be done by removing bad reading habits if her comprehension and word recognition skills are up to grade level.
You will need to observe your daughter while she is reading to see if she has any of the bad habits listed below that could lower her rate. If some are the problem, solutions are given for handling them and thus improving her reading rate.
• Reading aloud: Moving lips for each word. Put a pencil between her lips. The pencil will fall out if she is reading orally while reading silently.
• Finger-pointing: Using her finger to keep her place definitely will slow her reading rate down. Have her replace her finger with a 3x5 card to keep her place.
• Head moving: Put her reading material on a flat surface in front of her and have her place her elbows on the surface and hold her head with her hands.
• Word-by-word reading: She will need to make an effort to read phrases instead of individual words. Try having her read passages with a fluent reader. Also, make flashcards with common phrases and see how fast she can read them.
• Moving from line to line: Triple space a typed paragraph then draw a line from the end of a line to the beginning of the next.
• Backtracking: As soon as a line is read, she should cover it with a 3x5 card cut on an angle, so it covers the beginning of the line as she reads the end.
Parents’ Role in 5th Graders Homework
Question: How much should we monitor our fifth-grade daughter’s homework? – Busy Parent
Answer: Remember just whose homework it is anyway! The earlier a child learns to not rely totally on parents, the faster the child will become a better student. As a parent, you never want to feel that you are going through fifth grade for the second time! And parents who actually do the homework for their children have definitely gone too far!
While parents may feel that being very involved in their children’s homework is the right thing to do, it really sends the message that the children are incapable of doing the work and that the main objective is perfection. It also denies children the opportunity to develop skills and gain understanding from the experience. And it certainly doesn’t teach them how to be responsible or to persevere with a task. In fact, one of the great benefits of children doing their homework by themselves is that it teaches them that they can struggle, try several different approaches, and succeed. This really gives them confidence in their own abilities that will carry over to other school tasks.
However, if your child wants you to correct her completed work, you may point out errors or, better yet, the types of errors she has made. It is important for her to discover and correct her own errors. Point out individual errors only when time is limited.
Hints on Handling Peer Pressure
Question: My kids are so different. Both are in elementary school. One can say, “No” easily to friends. The other can’t and is a victim of peer pressure. How can I help her say, “No” when she should? – Pressured
Answer: Strangely enough, peer pressure can be good and bad. It is good when the peer group inspires your child to do well in academics and extracurricular activities. And of course, it can be very bad when it entices your child to do drugs or participate in dangerous activities.
One way to help your child handle peer pressure besides talking about it is to role-play likely scenarios that your child could face. Doing so really does help children learn how to suggest alternatives and to walk away from bad pressure. Another very positive way to handle peer press is to invite other children to your home where you can see if another child has a negative influence on your child.
Parents should send questions and comments to dearteacher@dearteacher.com.