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Reading FluencyPlease be sure to read my page about reading comprehension, along with this page on reading fluency.There are numerous definitions of fluency, but one way to check fluency it is to have your child read aloud to you. Does their reading sound smooth? Is it expressive? Are the words strung together, and not choppy or disconnected? If you answer yes to these questions, then your child is reading fluently. Of course make sure the passage is age appropriate. For both fluency and comprehension, parents must be aware that DAILY practice is necessary. Reading, just as anything in life, must be practiced consistently. Modeling Fluent ReadersThe first time I listened to one of my tutors work with a child on reading, the tutor began by reading aloud to the child. The tutor then asked the child to read the next passage, and if the child struggles with a word of phrase, the tutor makes corrections. It went on like this for the entire tutoring session. My first thought was “How is this tutoring? The parent could just as easily do this with their child.” Therein lies the problem, we just don’t make the time to do this simple task with our children. This is where a tutor, an older brother or sister, grandparents and others could help.By following along in the text and listening to how a sentence is supposed to sound, kids learn how sentences are constructed, how words flow, and how punctuation works. This helps kids read sentences in phrases, not just words. Jack...and...Jill...ran...up...the...hill..., becomes Jack and Jill ran up the hill. Kids are exposed to the passage visually, and the passage is reinforced by the reader voice. Many parents are somewhat skeptical when they first observe a reading fluency tutoring session, but this simple technique, practiced daily (with a tutor and parents) brings about a noticeable change in reading fluency. Most good tutors will advise parents to use this technique at home to see even more dramatic improvement. If you think about the process of reading, fluent readers automatically recognize words and phrases so they can concentrate more on comprehension. If your child is working hard to recognize and decipher words, comprehension suffers. This is the link between fluency and comprehension (which I discuss on a different section of this site). Other Considerations to Help Your Child Read FluentlyIndividualized, one-on-one tutoring is a significant advantage to increasing reading fluency. First, the privacy of one-on-one tutoring lowers the anxiety level or poor readers. Not having other children around often helps a child to open up with her tutor, and makes the child less afraid of making mistakes.Parents should always be cognizant of allowing their child to enjoy the reading process. Instead of fighting with their child to read only school texts, encourage your child to read according to their interests. If your son enjoys football or sports, let them read about it. The concept is to show them that reading can be enjoyable as well as educational. This will go a long way toward making your child a life long reader. Remember, it isn’t as much about what they are reading, rather than the fact that they are reading consistently, every day. Since reading fluency deals with word recognition, many tutors and teachers will introduce new readers to sight words (words that have a high occurrence or frequent use-the Dolch list is a standard for sight words). Building a strong sight word vocabulary enables the reader to focus on comprehension. Busy parents can still multi-task to help their child read more fluently. Parents can prepare dinner while their child reads out loud. Have them help you read a recipe. If Dad wants to read the sports page, couldn’t you get your child to read it to you? It’s important not to have your child reading material that is too advanced for their skills. Make sure its age and reading level appropriate, and make sure it’s fun. Turn off the television for an hour. If this is too traumatic, try 30 minutes. OK, 20 minutes won’t kill you. Take this time to read to each other. It’s 20 minutes out of your 24 hour day...you can do it! Take every opportunity to practice reading with your child, but try not to force it down their throats. Developing your child’s enjoyment of reading is important to develop their fluency and comprehension. Please click here to return from Reading Fluency to TutorTrend Homepage
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