Speech Therapy Center

Reading Fluency 101: How to Make Your Child a Fluent Reader

Reading is one of the most important skills a child learns in their early years of education. Parents should be advocates and expand their child’s reading skills by reading daily and doing other exercises that involve reading skills. The ability to read is a multifactorial skill and many children have a hard time doing so. Here are some ways to get your kids to be fluent readers!

What is Reading Fluency?

Reading fluency is the ability to read quickly, smoothly, expressively, and comprehend written language. A fluent reader will be able to read without sounding “choppy;” meaning, when they read they sound very natural. Most importantly, they are able to understand the material they are reading.
Fluent readers are able to decode word meaning and pronunciation simultaneously. Most children who have difficulties with reading most likely have a problem with pronunciation. When they read, they are not able to understand the text they are reading because they are too busy sounding out words.

How to Improve Reading Fluency

One of the best ways to aid pronunciation of words is by reading out loud or orally. Tell your child to pick his or her favorite book and sit down and read it with them. This exercise should advocate the child to read to you. When he/she gets stuck, ask them to sound it out rather than just telling them. This will allow the child to practice sounding out words that they are unfamiliar with.

Another great way to practice is by modeling. You read a short phrase and ask the child to repeat after you. This gives the child an example of how their reading should sound like. With practice, they will develop their own style of reading.
Children with a reading difficulty should not be reading silently. Parents should sit down with their kids daily and read. It can be before or after homework, or before bed.

Let’s us not forget about reading comprehension. As you read with your child, stop them in the middle of paragraphs or pages and ask them what has happened in the story so far. This means, you have to be paying attention to the story too! Ask them specific questions related to the story and have your child answer. If he/she does not know the answer make them look for it. This practice will help your children in reading comprehension skills that will be tested in school.

Remember parents, it is important for you to keep a close relationship with your child’s teachers.  They spend most of the day with your child and know clearly where their strengths and weaknesses are.  If you notice a delay in your child’s reading you should advise his/her teacher immediately. The teacher will be able to help your child overcome his/her reading difficulty and guide you on how to practice at home.

School is just about to start and therefore let’s try and make this year an awesome academic year!

For more information on Reading Fluency please click on the link below:

http://www.readingrockets.org/teaching/reading101/fluency

Finding Inspiration in the Imperfection

Alexander Graham Bell, Walt Disney, and Winston Churchill all had learning disabilities. Think about how each of them has influenced the world today; including the creation of the telephone, the magic of Disney, and the strategic skills and persistence necessary to win a war. It is important to keep in mind that because your child is diagnosed as learning disabled, does not mean he/she is incapable. All of these men are remembered for their great accomplishments and with your help your child will do great things as well.

Often, children with learning disabilities compensate for their difficulty with strength in other skills. Additionally, they are usually difficult to detect, simply because they will hide their difficulties. As a parent you have to keep a close watch in order to insure that your child is provided with early detection and remediation. Keep in mind that you want to provide as much support as possible.  A red flag for detection will be that your child will complain of schoolwork and receive poorer grades than his/her peers.

With help from psychologists, and other specialists, the difficulties encountered by learning disabled children and teens can be decreased. Often times, children with learning disabilities have concomitant issues with speech, language and/or hearing. Therefore a speech and language evaluation is highly recommended. Please feel free to consult with us at Speech Therapy Center to identify, remediate and educate your child to reach his/her full potential.

Keep in mind, that people who have suffered from various disabilities have accomplished wonderful things. Please do not limit your children. It is your job to inspire them to grow and inspire others with their talents!

To see more historical figures who have been diagnosed with learning disabilities, check out:

http://dyslexiamylife.org/who_els.html

Another great website all parents should read concerning learning disabilities is:

http://kidshealth.org/teen/diseases_conditions/learning/learning_disabilities.html

Setting Educational Goals: Meeting Your Child’s Academic Needs During Summer Break

Prepare your child for the next grade by setting clear goals for the summer. Start by making a list of things for your child to do to prepare him for the new academic year. Then plot the activities on a calendar. You can use a white board and erasable markers, or use a pre-made calendar in order to give yourself and your child a visual reinforcement. On your calendar, jot down goals to accomplish daily, weekly and monthly. Every child is different, so every calendar will be unique. The main idea behind this task is that your child will return to school ready for the new academic year. Remember to reward yourself and your children for the accomplishments of summer learning.

Here is an example of activities for a student approaching first grade:

Monday: Review or learn how to add single numbers
Tuesday: Practice book report writing
Wednesday: Practice handwriting letters and number and drawing shapes and figures
Thursday: Learn (10) new words
Friday: Practice letter and sounds

Stimulation Debate: Making Educated Decisions for You Child’s Summer Activities

Summer break can be wonderful because it gives kids a break from stressful academic overload. However, some parents find that by the time kids start the new school year; they do not want to do their schoolwork and contribute this to laziness caused by the summer break.

Many parents try to fix that problem by putting kids in educational summer programs like science camps and tutoring classes. It is important to keep in mind though, that leisure camps that involve swimming, sports and crafts are a great way to socialize kids, and do promote physical and creative learning. We believe that a balance between the physical and intellectual should be attained year round.

For years there has been an endless debate on whether there should be year round school. The following information has been taken from About.com:

Arguments for Year Round Education

-Students tend to forget a lot during the summer, and shorter vacations might increase retention rates.
-Schools that are not being used in the summer are inefficient.
-Short breaks can provide time for students to receive enrichment education.
-Remediation can occur when it is most needed during the school year.
-Students get bored during the long break of summer.
-It’s easier to schedule vacations because not everyone wants to travel at the same time.
-Other countries around the world use this system.
-More students can be accommodated at one school through multi-tracking.

Arguments against Year Round Education

-Studies have been inconclusive to its academic benefits.
-Students are going to forget information whether they are out of school for three weeks or 10. Therefore, teachers will be performing four beginning of the year reviews instead of just one.
-Summer programs such as youth camps suffer.
-Student summer employment will be virtually impossible.
-Many schools are older and do not have air conditioning.
-Band and other extracurricular programs could be hurt because of problems scheduling out of school practices and competitions.
-If the entire school district does not go year round, parents could have students at different schools on different schedules.
-With multi-tracking, parents could have students at the same school on different schedules.

We will leave the final decision up to you as the parent. The purpose of this article is to get your to start thinking about the pros and cons of the decisions that you make for your children.

Here is a list of local summer camps. Let us know what you choose!

Sparking Fun in Your Summer Routine!

In order for children to truly enjoy reading, it is important to establish a routine at a very early age. Thus, the routine will stimulate interest and fun into the task of reading. Without interest, their motivation for reading is going to be very low. And motivation for reading should never be low. It is your job as a parent to spark fun into reading so that your children can be academically successful.

We stress the importance of early exposure to books and stories. Children from an early age can begin understanding ideas such as: characters, setting, and plot in books as well using these elements to build stories of their own. As your child progresses through more advanced reading levels other elements such as vocabulary, conversation and reading comprehension skills become more and more significant.

Reading for Toddlers:

Although babies cannot read, you can read to them. Ideally, you want to pick books with many pictures, colors, and textures. This will expose your child to a multisensory approach in the development of their senses of hearing, sight, smell, and touch. This interaction of the senses will make reading all the more interesting.

Many of the books that are made for babies and toddlers have very little words, and many things to question about. For example, if you see a picture of an animal with texture; as you read the book, you can instruct your child to feel the animal while providing them with new vocabulary. The fact that you have introduced experience through the interaction will increase their likelihood of remembering these new words.

Babies are very stimulated by color. Therefore providing books with vivid imagery may capture your child’s attention for a more prolonged period of time. As you read to your child, remember to point to things you are reading about. You want to make sure your child knows what you are talking about.

Keep in mind, that a child’s attention span is very different from adults. Do not overwhelm your baby with reading, if you notice he/she is shifting his/her head around, stop reading the book and move onto another activity or simply give he/she a moment of rest. Remember, the idea of these activities is to get your child interested in reading, not make them feel like its a chore.

Here is a list of some great books to read with your toddler. They should all be introduced as hard cover, with thick pages at this age. This will prevent them from breaking easily since babies like to chew, drool, and touch everything they discover.

-Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? By Bill Martin, Jr.
-Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
-Dr. Seuss’ ABC by Dr. Seuss
-The Touch Me Book, by Pat and Eve Witte (texture based book)
-The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle
-Peek-A-Boo by Janet and Allan Ahlberg (pop-up book)

Books for your “Big Kids”

Yeah, I know you’ve conned your kids into doing things by telling them “you’re a big kid already, and big kids like to read!” By this age, your child has already begun reading in school, using sight words, and practicing reading at home. You are probably thinking of ways you can help your child become a better reader. The easiest way is with a little creativity and dedication.

At this point, your goal is to motivate your child to like reading. Setting up a selected time for reading, and naming it “reading time,” will definitely make things easier for you. That way your child knows that reading is both important and fun.

You can also introduce the idea of story time as well. Story time will be different than reading time because during story time, you will encourage your child to make up stories; and further enhance their creativity, language, grammar, and articulation skills.

Remember; do not force your child to read. If one day he/she tells you “I don’t feel like reading” you tell them to just read 3 pages, and that way you compromise. Most likely, if the book you are reading is appealing and entertaining to your child, they will want to continue reading.

Here is a list of books we actually have in our library at the office and we personally highly recommend:

-The Tale of Peter Rabbit, by Beatrix Potter
-Corduroy, by Don Freeman
-Harold and the Purple Crayon, by Crockett Johnson
-One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, by Dr. Seuss
-The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle
-Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Bad Day, by Judith Viorst
-Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak
-The Rainbow Fish, by Marcus Pfister
-Stellaluna, by Janell Cannon

When It’s Time to READ, It’s a Small World After All

Disney Digital Books offers a fantastic way to facilitate reading. This can be beneficial for children of all ages, and maybe even some teens. You have the option of trying out the website for FREE for 7 days so that you can experience how fun and easy it is.

They have over 700 books to choose from, ranging from the Disney classics, to new stories about sharing, friendship, family, and friends. I actually tried the 7-day trial and I truly enjoyed it. It is extremely child user friendly; if your child has a hard time reading a word, you click on it, and a voice will say it for you.

It also works on reading comprehension skills; throughout the story it will ask you questions about what you just read. As you answer questions correctly, you accumulate points for rewards and higher reading levels.

I think it is an excellent tool for reading; I really enjoyed this program myself. Log onto http://disneydigitalbooks.go.com/ to check it out!

Cristine R. Jimenez
Language Stimulation Specialist
Speech Therapy Center, Inc.

Children’s Book Week: May 10-16

Children’s Book Week online has something for everyone; including parents, children, and  professionals! You can play games, solve puzzles, join contests, and find out about new books.

The site features Children’s Choice Book Awards, a national child chosen book award program. It is great to know what books are recommended for your kids by kids!

Currently there are no local events here in Miami. But if you live outside Miami, make sure to check if they will be hosting an event near you! Also, be sure to visit your local library, they may be participating in the  festivities.

For more information on Book Week, visit their website:
http://www.bookweekonline.com/

Free Audio Downloads of Popular Children’s Books!

AudibleKids has partnered with Reading is Fundamental (RIF) to offer free audio downloads of popular children’s books including Rapunzel and R.L. Stine’s Rotten School: The Song, and so on…

Click here for more information http://www.audible.com/kids

All About the ABC’s…

A, B, C, D, E, F, G…the alphabet song is usually the method used to teach children their alphabet. Although the alphabet song does help, it usually causes children to memorize the melody of the song rather than the actual letter. Especially in the L, M, N, O, P part, it sounds more like “elemeno-pee” than the pronunciation of the letters! After a little research, and using my own creativity, I found a few ways that may help you teach your child the alphabet rather than using the traditional ABC song. The alphabet is the foundation of many important skills that your child will develop in the future; without it reading and writing will not be possible.

Knowing the letters is essential, but more important than that, is knowing the sounds of the letters. Reading is usually taught by sounding out the letters and making a word out of the sounds. If a child cannot match the letter A with its corresponding “aaah” sound, then reading is going to be a difficult task. It is important to begin preparing your child for reading at an early age, and exposing him/her to educational resources, it will help them in the long run.  Reading is not easy, and most children will have difficulties with it. Although it is tough, it is very rewarding when they tell you “mommy! Look what I can do” and they recite the entire alphabet, and even more exciting when they read their first word.

Fun & Free Online Games:
Here are some online games that are fun and interactive. I actually played these myself and I found them to be both entertaining and educational.

Alphabetical Wack-A-Mole!
This is a fun game to play with your child. It offers good practice of visual and memory skills. It requires the child to not only place the letters in alphabetical order but also to remember the last letter they wacked! Moles pop out of a hole while holding a paper with a letter of the alphabet on it. The goal of the game is to “wack” the moles in alphabetical order.
Below is a link that directly takes you to the game:
http://www.playkidsgames.com/games/wam/wam.htm

Alphabet Book Game
This game asks for you to put the alphabet letters in order. This game helps develop visual skills because it requires the child to look for the correct letter that is jumbled up within the books. This game is a little bit trickier, but still a good source for learning.
If you click on the link below, you can play the game:
http://www.playkidsgames.com/games/alphabetGame/alphabet.htm

ABC Zoo:
This one is not really a game, but more of an interactive website. Depending on your child’s age, you can choose “infant” or “toddler.” For infants, you can press any key on your keyboard and the letters of the alphabet will pop up and show you an animal that begins with that letter. For toddlers, the website is much more interactive. You can choose to sing the ABC song, as the letters of the alphabet pop up, and then, you can click on the different letters of the alphabet and it will show you an animal that begins with that letter.
Try the link below, to play the game:
http://www.fisher-price.com/us/fun/games/abczoo/default.asp

Other Fun Ways to Learn the ABC’s

ABC Album:
This will develop you child’s creative skills, as well as help them recognize the letters of the alphabet and match them to items.

Here is what you need:
•    A three ring binder
•    Construction Paper (or regular computer paper is fine)
•    Scissors
•    Glue Stick
•    Markers, Crayons, or Colored Pencils (your choice)
•    Three hole puncher
•    Optional: Magazines

You and your child are going to create an album of the letters of the alphabet with a picture to go along with the letter. On the front side of the paper, have the child write the letter, and on the backside, have them draw a picture of an object, or thing, that starts with that letter. Other ideas: rather than drawing it, you can look for objects in your house that start with the letter, take a picture of it, and then put it on the back of the paper, or you can also look for pictures in a magazine. This is a fun activity for both you and your child, and it will allow you to have some quality time with him/her!

Connect-the-Alphabet:
Remember playing “connect the dots?” Well, in this game, instead of using dots, we’re going to use the letters of the alphabet. Below, I will post a template that you can copy and paste into a word document and print for your child to use. You can make your own as well, just write the letters of the alphabet mixed up in 5 rows, and 6 columns (remember to include all the letters!), and then your child can connect the letters in the proper order. You can also use this with numbers.

A    C     F    U     T

D    B     V    S     O

E    F     R    W    A

H    G    A     Q    X

J     I     P     O     Y

K    L    M    N     Z

I personally love the Fischer Price website, it is very kid friendly, and it is appropriate for infants and toddlers as well. On that website, there are many other fun games and interactive sites, not only regarding reading, but also numbers, shapes, and colors.

I believe all these methods will be helpful in facilitating your child’s learning and understanding of the alphabet. You can always modify these ideas to your child’s needs. Also, you can modify them and use things your child is interested in. Creativity is essential; you can use almost anything to teach your child the alphabet.

Give your child the tools they need to succeed in their education, and begin prepping them early. The ABC’s and 123’s are just the beginning of the long road that lies ahead. And with your help and commitment, that long road may not be as bumpy as it could be.

Cristine R. Jimenez
Language Stimulation Specialist
Speech Therapy Center, Inc.

FREE Resources for Reading!

Please see an excerpt from the Reading is Fundamental, Inc. website below:

Reading Is Fundamental, Inc., prepares and motivates children to read by delivering free books and literacy resources to those children and families who need them most. Founded in 1966, RIF is the oldest and largest children’s and family nonprofit literacy organization in the United States. RIF’s highest priority is reaching underserved children from birth to age 8. Through community volunteers in every state and U.S. territory, RIF provided 4.4 million children with 15 million new,free books and literacy resources last year.

Click here for more information: www.rif.org