Parents as Advocates in their child’s reading journey

Parents as Advocates in their childs reading journey

Welcome to the first presentation in our workshop! Do you ever wonder if your child is reading at the same level as his/her peers? Is your child able to decode words, but not able to explain them? What is the difference? How can you help them develop their skills? Are you able to speak openly and honestly with your childs teacher about your concerns? These questions will be answered and more as you read through our presentation. Enjoy! Parents as Advocates

In this presentation you will receive information on: 1.Early signs of a reading problem What are the characteristics to look for? What are some fun ways to help my child? 2.Decoding vs. Comprehension What is the difference? 3.Communicating effectively with your childs school How to maintain an open and trusted relationship? Parents as Advocates

Early Signs of Reading Difficulty What are the characteristics of a reading difficulty?

Early Signs of Reading Difficulty Observations made at home are critical since reading problems can surface in the preschool and kindergarten years. Here you will learn about the characteristics that may indicate a reading problem. Although your child may be experiencing some of the characteristics mentioned, it does not necessarily imply a serious problem. Learning to read is a journey, and knowing where their difficulties are helps target the type of instruction or assistance they require.

Early Signs of Reading Difficulty Characteristics of a reading difficulty by preschool/kindergarten: Difficulty manipulating sounds in a word: Can your child rhyme? Can your child give you words that start with the same sound? Children who have experienced repeated ear infections, speech delays, or difficulty with articulation: Have your childs hearing and speech tested, and monitor for further indications of reading difficulties.

Early Signs of Reading Difficulty Characteristics of a reading difficulty by grade 1: Recognition of letter symbols and sounds: Does your child recognize the alphabet symbols? If you say a letter sound, can they identify which symbol it represents? Deciphering sounds in a word: Can your child break a one- syllable word apart into the separate sounds they hear? Blending sounds: Can your child blend letter sounds to form a one-syllable word? Reading aloud: Does your child avoid reading aloud to you? Do they skip words while reading? Do they have difficulty remembering a word after sounding it out once? Do they guess at words instead of sounding them out? Reading concepts: Does your child recognize that we read from left to right?

Early Signs of Reading Difficulty What are some fun ways to help my child?

Early Signs of Reading Difficulty The ability to distinguish sounds in a word is an important first step in the ability to read. This skill is called phonemic awareness. There are many fun ways as a parent to assist your child in developing phonemic awareness. A few examples are provided in the following slides.

Early Signs of Reading Difficulty Play the following game at home in order to focus your childs attention on sounds and sequencing, and to improve their memory skills: Ask your child to close their eyes Create familiar sounds within the house and ask your child to identify them (i.e. closing the door, whistling, eating an apple, etc.) Once they can identify individual sounds, do a series of sounds in sequence, and then ask them to provide a statement such as I heard two noises. The first one was ___ and the second one was ___. Try your hand at this game on the next slide!

Early Signs of Reading Difficulty GOAL: focus on sounds, sequencing, and memory skills 1.Click on each of the speakers once, starting from the left. 2.Then, click on the large pink box to reveal the pictures. 3.Can you remember the sequence of the sounds? ABCD 123 4 Answer: C, D, B, A Click here to reveal the answer!

Early Signs of Reading Difficulty Clap your hands with every syllable in a word. Start with family names and then move on to other familiar words from around the house, i.e. table, bathtub, lamp, etc.

Early Signs of Reading Difficulty See how parents from Raleigh, North Carolina have fun playing a rhyming game with their daughter in the following video. http://bcove.me/dyy37i60 The video is 1:40 mins. long. Please return to the slideshow once the next video begins.

Early Signs of Reading Difficulty Print off these worksheets in the Resource Section entitled Grocery Store Literacy Worksheets (PDF file). These worksheets will keep your child occupied during your shopping, while developing their literacy skills. The following is a sample of one of the worksheets, where your child must identify other items in the store that start with the same letter as the food item listed.

Early Signs of Reading Difficulty Website: Beginning Reading Help Free online reading games already sorted into skill areas http://beginningreadinghelp.blogspo t.ca/p/free-online-reading- games.html

Decoding vs. Comprehension What is the difference between decoding and comprehension?

Decoding vs. Comprehension Sometimes there is confusion around decoding text and comprehending text. Read the passage below, taken from a medical website. The substrate for AVNRT may be functional rather than anatomic. These arrhythmias occur in young, healthy patients and in those with chronic heart disease. In patients with atrioventricular (AV) nodal reentry, the AV node is functionally divided into 2 longitudinal pathways that form the reentrant circuit. (In contrast to a bypass tract, dual AV nodal physiology is often an acquired abnormality.) In the majority of patients, during AVNRT, antegrade conduction occurs to the ventricle over the slow (alpha) pathway, and retrograde conduction occurs over the fast (beta) pathway. Retrieved from: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/160215-overview#aw2aab6b2b2http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/160215-overview#aw2aab6b2b2

Decoding vs. Comprehension You were probably able to decode all or most words when reading the passage on the previous slide. That means you are a successful decoder. But if asked to retell the passage in your own words, this would probably be a challenging task. When we decode text successfully, it means that we are: making accurate letter sound relationships we have phonological awareness we understand text directionality, etc. It does not mean that we understand the text.

Decoding vs. Comprehension You can retell the text to another person, paraphrasing the words of the author into your own words. You can make a personal connection to the text with your prior knowledge for example, you can connect a situation in the story to a situation that once happened to you. You can make an accurate prediction about what might happen next in the text, based on the information given. You question the ideas of the author, as you infer the authors real message. When you comprehend what you read, other skills present themselves:

Decoding vs. Comprehension Understanding of a text strengthens through conversation. When reading with your child, it is important to stop at integral parts of the story for those important conversations, which will show you if your child is understanding the story. Before you start a book, access your childs prior knowledge by asking what they think the story will be about based on the picture on the cover. During the story, write down new vocabulary on sticky notes. Then when finished reading, look the new words up in the dictionary to explore their meaning. Develop a sticky note flip book of new vocabulary to keep handy each time you read. After a page of events, stop and ask your child: Tell me what is happening so far in the story? After a chapter, ask your child: Predict what you think will happen in the next chapter?

How to maintain an open and trusted relationship? Communicating With Your Childs School

If you want the best for your child, then developing an open and trusted relationship with your childs school is very important. This positive relationship can only be supported if you are prepared, involved, and patient. There are several ways to do this.

Communicating With Your Childs School Being prepared: Gather all the necessary school contact information and calendars at the start of the year and keep them in a handy spot. Contact information can include phone numbers, voice mailbox numbers, email addresses, websites, and staff names. Provide the school with all of your contact information, i.e. home phone number, cell phone number, work number, etc. The more ways the school has to contact you, the easier it will be to get in touch with you. Review your childs work with them and read report cards carefully. Share any concerns about your child with the school at the start of the year. If your childs teacher is aware of the issue, then they can be sensitive towards it.

Communicating With Your Childs School Being involved: Introduce yourself to the staff that will be involved in your childs education at the start of the school year, and speak to them on a regular basis. This means the teacher, the support staff, the special education teacher, the secretary and the principal. Attend school events where the teacher is available to speak with you, such as parent-teacher interviews, PTA meetings, information nights and open houses. Read all letters and newsletters sent home from the school. Take the time to implement suggestions that the teacher makes, to reinforce or strengthen any skills your child might be struggling in.

Communicating With Your Childs School Being patient: It may be difficult to get a hold of your childs teacher, but give them time to receive your message before expecting a response. A teacher may not be able to get to the phone until late afternoon, once all students have gone home. If you have a concern, speak with the staff person that is closest to the issue. For example, if homework is not being sent home for review, contact the teacher first. If you are emotional about a concern you have, take the time to cool down before contacting the school. Remaining calm will allow you to express those concerns clearly, and respectful discussions will be well received and heard. Remember that the school staff has your childs best interests at heart, just like you!

Communicating With Your Childs School For more information and ideas on how to communicate effectively, have a look at the following website to read their fun article The ABCs of Communicating with Your Childs School. https://www.putnamcityschools.org/ForParents/TipsforParent s/CommunicatingwithYourChildsSchool/tabid/113/Default.aspx

Communicating With Your Childs School Please take the time to fill out our survey at the following link, regarding communication with your childs school. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3HXNJHP Survey

Reading Rockets http://www.readingrockets.org/helping/http://www.readingrockets.org/helping/ University of Michigan Health System http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/reading.htm PBS Parents http://www.pbs.org/parents/ National Center for Learning Disabilities http://www.ncld.org/at-school/general-topics/parentschool- partnership/communicating-with-your-childs-school education.com http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Communicating_C hilds/ Resources

Parents as Advocates Thank you for viewing our first presentation! Please move on to the second presentation entitled: Invite Reading Into Your Home

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Parents as Advocates in their child’s reading journey