Reading

Successfully helping your child to read

Text comprehension
Comprehension is the reason for reading and gives reading
a purpose. Comprehension helps your child to make sense
of what they are reading and think actively about how they
can get the most out of their reading.

Information

Comprehending

what children are reading will help them understand,

Strategies

remember and communicate with others about what they

are read (NIL, 3rd Ed.).

Support

Help your child think about what the purpose is for reading a
particular passage or book. Is it to find information, enjoyment
or answer questions.
Help your child ask questions about the text he or she is
reading.

For more information or support contact:

Ask your child to summarize what he or she has just read.

Stop at different places in the passage or book and ask your
child what he or she thinks will happen next.

Tlf.: 12 34 56 78 90
www.dvandevorst0386@marygrove.edu

Five building blocks for helping your child to become a better reader:
Phonemic aw areness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, Text comprehension.
Too many children struggle with learning to read. This will have a long-term impact on childrens confidence,
motivation and performance at school and later in life. Understanding the building
blocks for reading and using the strategies in this brochure
will help your child become a confident
reader. (Gunning, 2013)

Phonemic Awareness

Voc a bul a r y

Is the ability to notice, think about and work with individual sounds in spoken words.
Understand that sounds of spoken language work together to make words. Children who
have a phonemic awareness will have an easier time learning to read and spell (NIL, 3 rd Ed.).
Use the following strategies to increase phonic awareness.

How can you

help your child
become a
successful
reader?

F l uen c y

Phonics teaches your child the relationship

Fluency is the ability to read a text

between the letters or graphemes of written

accurately, quickly and with expression.

language

individual

sounds

Children are able to recognize words

(phonemes) of spoken language.

It helps

automatically and able to group words

children understand there is a structure for

quickly to gain meaning from their reading.

remembering how to read words (NIL, 3 rd

Ed.).
Help your child read words accurately and
automatically when reading out loud. Point out
words in the text you are reading together and

Read and re-read a passage at your childs

reading level with your child four times a day.
Model how to read with expression
paying particular attention to punctuation
marks. Next have your child read the same

help your child think about the sounds they

passage

hear and say and the graphemes they see in

expression.

copying

your

the text that go with the sound.

R e a d i n g is a ma g i c a l e x p e ri e nc e , o p e n i n g a d o o r to a v as t w o r l d of i nf o r m a t i o n , f u l f i l l m e n t
a n d e n jo ym e n t. R e a d i n g i s a l s o a c o mp l e x p r o c es s i n wh i c h we c o n s t r u c t m e a n i n g f r o m
p r i n t . W it h o ut me a n i n g t h er e i s n o r e a d i n g . ( G u n n i n g , 2 0 1 3 )

the words we use in speaking and listening.

when reading (NIL, 3rd Ed.).
When reading with your child talk about the
unfamiliar words you come across. Engage your
child in a conversation about the words. Ask
them questions, what does he or she thinks the
words mean. Are there clues in the text that give

P ho ni cs

the

communicate effectively. Oral vocabulary is

Reading vocabulary is the words we recognize

Identifying and categorizing first phonemes in words: \j\a\m\

Blending and segmenting words:

You say: I will say the sounds in the word jam - \j\a\m\. What is the word?
Child answers: Jam.
You say: You say the sounds in the word jam.
Child: \j\a\m\
You: Now lets write the sounds in jam: \j\, write j; \a\, write a; \m\, write m. Now we are going to read
the word jam.

and

Vocabulary is the words we need to know to

intonation

and

more information about the unfamiliar word? Say

the new word out loud and let your child repeat
the word.