My huge focus thus far for education has been on reading. There is much more to reading and reading instruction than many parents and some teachers realize. Reading is an integral part of a child’s success and education. In previous articles I have described various areas of reading such as phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency. I then began taking you for a look into reading at different grade levels. In one of my more recent articles I gave you some insight on how reading should be carried out in the kindergarten classroom. I also began listing some reading skills that … Continue reading →

Now that you understand the importance of reading and what your child’s kindergarten classroom should look like, how can you tell is your child is on track for successful reading? This article will give some focus on particular skills that your child should be able to carry out by the end of his or her kindergarten year. Books Kindergarten children should be able to recognize the parts of a book and demonstrate how to properly hold a book to be read. Children at the age should be able to locate the title and identify the purpose of the author and … Continue reading →

My last several articles have focused on reading and aspects that go along with reading. I have focused some many articles on this topic because reading is so crucial to a child’s success in life. While many parents work with their child on reading aspects at home, the early years in school is vital to a child’s reading success. So how does a parent know when his or her child is or is not receiving adequate reading instruction at school? My next few articles will help parents determine what skills children should be learning at particular grade levels. The following … Continue reading →

My previous article about vocabulary ended with giving parents and teacher ideas on which types of words should be taught to children. The first type was important words. Important words are words that are essential to helping children understand a passage of text. In addition to important words there are also other words that teachers and parents tune into when teaching vocabulary to children. Useful words: These are words that children are likely to come across often in other passages of text. Teachers and parents should look for words that are not secluded to one body of text. These are … Continue reading →

Previously we have discussed the steps to beginning to read and factors that lead to better readers. However in many cases I will hear parents or teachers complain that the child reads but does not know or cannot answer questions about what has been read. Understanding the text that was read is reading comprehension. Many feel that reading comprehension is something that must come natural to a child. However reading comprehension can also be taught and strengthened through instruction. Research has indentified six areas that can help improve reading comprehension. Monitoring comprehension: In this area students learn to monitor their … Continue reading →

As a student I can remember the countless time that I spent copying the bold words from the textbook and writing their definition. We would then have a test to either fill in the blank with the correct word or match the words and the definitions. This practice was thought to be our vocabulary lesson for the week. Most teachers still incorporate vocabulary into their lessons today. Vocabulary is the words or terms that we must know in order to be able to communicate with others effectively. In general, researchers and educators will say that there are four types of … Continue reading →

I enjoy poetry, card sayings, and quotes from others. Some are very interesting, some are funny, and some are very clever. Recently I came across a quote that caught my attention and greatly touched me. The quote was made by John Dewey and said the following: ?if we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow This quote is so true. Everything in our world is continuously changing. We cannot expect the methods and topics of the past to meet the needs of our children today and prepare them for the future. However, there are some … Continue reading →

In a previous article I discussed the importance of reading fluency. The article gave insight into how teachers can instruct students on increasing their reading skills. In the article I discussed reading fluency was not best increased through silent and independent reading. What about silent reading? Fluency is better gained from direct contact with a teacher or other adult. However, most teachers feel that silent reading is important for readers. So how should teachers teach fluency but still keep a handle on silent reading? Use silent reading during times of independent class work time but in the place of reading … Continue reading →