READING TO YOUR THIRD GRADER

So many times when a child learns to read a parent stops reading to a child. We rationalize it by saying, “Well, he can read himself now; he does not need me to read to him anymore.” This is only partly true.

Third graders may indeed know how to read, but they still enjoy being read to. Here are some of the benefits:

• Snuggling up on the couch to read to your child (who is now too big to sit on your lap) gives you and your child quality time together.
• You can model for your child good expressive reading.
• Your child can be exposed to books that are too hard for him/her to read by himself, but are not too hard for him/her to understand.
• Your child’s listening vocabulary is greater than his/her reading vocabulary.
  It is a great way to wind down at the end of the day for both you and the child.
• Reading to your child will help them to be better at comprehending what he/she reads.
• And you can help your child better comprehend by doing the following:
• Ask your child to predict what he/she thinks will happen next and then listen carefully to see if that prediction comes true.
• Ask your child to stop you if he/she wants you reread a section that they do not understand.
• Make connections to your own life as you read and ask your child if he/she hears anything to which he/she can connect. Say, “This part of the story reminds me of ….”.
• When you are done reading ask your child what part he/she liked the best or the least.
• If it is a picture book, stop and look at the pictures before you read and then again while you read.
• Ask which character in the story would he or she like for a friend and why.
• Talk about the plot of the story: what was the problem and how was it solved.

When you do the above suggestions, you are modeling for your child what he/she should be doing when they read.

The goal is to help children love to read and to understand what they are reading.

Let me know how this works for you. Any success stories?