Reading Rockets suggests the following tips for parents to help a struggling reader at home:
- Break reading material into small parts, and help students understand each part along the way.
- Discuss the meaning of unknown words (heard and read).
- Discuss information your child has learned from textbooks (Science, History).
- Help your child make connections between what he or she reads and similar experiences he has felt, viewed in a movie, or read in another book.
- Help your child monitor his or her understanding. Teach them to continually ask whether they understand what they are reading.
- Help your child to go back to the text to support their answers.
Other tips for parents:
- Encourage kids to read anything—even if it is not a book. Magazines, comics or websites can engage children, and shows them that computers and iPads are not just for games.
- Keep it positive. If your child becomes upset, reading will seem like a punishment and that time will not be productive. Rather than being intense, keep the mood light and upbeat and keep your eyes on the goal of enjoying reading.
Resource
Click here for book suggestions on Lexile.com for the struggling reader.