Christine Almiron, a public library outreach program coordinator, believes that reading problems in young school age children can be tricky to determine. “Sometimes children are actually very good readers but are so self-conscious when reading aloud that educators and parents think they have a problem,” she explained in a Dec.15, 2008 email. “Conversely, there are children who can say every word on the page perfectly, but have no comprehension. They have no understanding of what they just read.”
How a Parent Can Help Improve Children’s Reading Skills
Parents want their boys and girls to succeed, even if they’ve just begun elementary school. Almiron, who refers to the age group of 6 to 8 as “division one”, recommends that parents encourage their kids’ reading, but not push. “Children have pushed themselves to read far beyond the normal reading levels for their age group,” observes Almiron. “There were division one kids reading Harry Potter novels during the craze. However, pushing your child too hard makes them self-conscious.”
Besides reading books, Almiron recommends rhymes, rebuses and stories without words if a child has problems reading. These help a young elementary-school boy or girl improve their language skills and their reading skills.
How Rhymes Help a Parent when a Child has Problems Reading
“A child's ability to anticipate rhyming words really shows how well he's picked up the language,” explains Almiron. “For example, ‘A little old lady in a big green hat brushed the fuzzy fur of her big fat cat.’ If you pause and the child can anticipate the word ‘cat’, well that's just super.”
Almiron advises that while Mother Goose rhymes are excellent for preschoolers, children from 6 to 8 enjoy funny poems. A parent can search or ask a librarian to search under "humorous poetry juvenile" for funny poems. Almiron recommends in particular Roald Dahl and the Silly Dilly song books by Alan Katz.
Help with Reading: Try Rebuses and Stories without Words
Rebuses are easy readers where words have little pictures above them illustrating what the word means. The word ‘butterfly’ would have a small butterfly above it, for example. “If your child loves a certain children's show, there may be a rebus to go with it,” advises Almiron. “There are Dora and Diego and also Bob the Builder rebuses.”
Stories without words are picture books with illustrations showing a story, but with no accompanying narration. The young school age child looks at the pictures and makes up the story. In particular, Almiron recommends David Wiesner’s Flotsam.
“These books are useful because they take the pressure off the child trying to read each word correctly,” explains Almiron. “There is no wrong way of telling the story and doing so helps a child develop narrative skills, understanding how a story works with a beginning, middle, an end and some sort of plot.
How a Parent can Encourage Reading Books
Whether a young school age child has problems reading or not, Almiron recommends following the "five-finger rule" when picking a book. “Go to the library and let your child choose a book. Open the book to the first page and tell him to put his hand up,” she advises. “He should put down one finger for each word he can't say or understand. If he hits five difficult words before finishing the page, choose something else! The book is too hard!”
Many public libraries also offer programs to help school age children learn to read. When reading books at home, Almiron reminds parents: “Adults read for pleasure. Remember that when kids are learning to read, it is hard work!”
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