2004

to our parenting section. As business owners specializing in personalized children's books and other great products for young kids, and as a parent of small children, we have decided to dedicate this section of our web site to parents, grandparents, and teachers. Our intent is to seek out  knowledgeable people in their field that can offer tips and advice that will help us in the development of our children during their young and formative years.

 Regards,
Kevin & Julie
More4Kids Inc.

Featured Article for November 2004:

“Parent Power: How to Turn Your Child into a Proficient Reader”

By Karen T. Hartline 

Like any parent, you want your child to be a proficient reader.  This means having not only the capability to recite the words on a page, but also the cognitive skills to reach into the depth of a text.  Proficient readers are analytical thinkers while they are actually reading and not simply after they finish.  Yet when many parents sit down to read with their children, valuable reading strategies are often overlooked.  Instead, most of the emphasis is placed on “sounding out” when the child pauses at a challenging word. While phonemic awareness – the conscious understanding of the spelling-to-sound correspondence – is a vital component of reading, it should not be the only focus. 

The time you spend reading with your child is an invaluable part of his or her reading education.  Therefore, it is important to reflect all of the strategies that proficient readers use to better understand and enjoy a text.  This can be done easily, without pulling out a blackboard and a pointer, but by having an ongoing exchange with your child while he or she is reading to you. 

The following are some strategies on which to focus when reading with your child and how to do so.  Please note that the questions I have listed are the types of questions that facilitate each strategy and are not necessarily to be repeated word-for-word.  It is most helpful when you make observations of your own before turning to the child with a question.  This models the strategy for the child and lessens his or her feeling of being put on the spot. 

Making Predictions.  A guess about what is going to happen in the future is a prediction.  Believe it or not, the reading process begins before you ever even open a book.  The title, pictures on the cover and even familiarity with a particular author’s work are all things worth discussing.  Predictions can be made throughout the story.  You can even turn it into a game in which you can see whose prediction was correct and what clues led each of you to make your prediction.  Here are some sample questions:

• What do you think this book is going to be about?  Why?
• Do you think this is going to be a funny or sad book?
• What do you think [the character] is going to do?

Making Inferences.  Whereas, a guess about what is going to happen is a prediction, a guess about what is happening in the present is an inference.  Authors do not always spell out exactly why a character behaves a certain way or how he or she is feeling.  Therefore, there is plenty of room for making inferences throughout the story.  Here are some sample questions to prompt your child:

• How do you think the character is feeling?
• Why is the character behaving like this?

Comparing and Contrasting.  Comparing is finding similarities while contrasting is highlighting differences.  Whichever one is being used, this strategy can be applied to any aspect of the text: vocabulary, story elements, authors, book covers – the list is endless.  Here are some questions to facilitate comparing and contrasting:

• Which character is most like you?  How?
• Does the setting look similar to where we live?
• How is this story different from the last one we read together?

Accessing Prior Knowledge.  Your child’s comprehension reflects not only the clues in the story, but also their own prior knowledge.  Mature readers relate their own experience to all of the story elements.  This strategy may manifest as the visual image of a familiar setting or the memory of a similar situation.  This enables them to better understand why a character is feeling or acting a certain way and the choices he or she might make.  Here are some ways to access your child’s prior knowledge:

• Has anything like that ever happened to you?
• Have you ever been to a place like that?
• Does [the character] remind you of anyone you know?

 Questioning.  Children are often under the misconception that they must know every word and understand the reason behind everything that happens in the story.  Perhaps you yourself have the same belief!  But think back to the last book or article you read.  There might have been an unfamiliar word.  Maybe the author referred to a past event for which you had no frame of reference.  Perhaps you “zoned out” during your earlier reading and missed the details leading to the present events.  Your child should know that all of these scenarios are perfectly normal.  Encourage them to ask questions when there is something that is confusing.  Here are ways you can model for them:

• I wonder why the character is so upset.
• That’s a funny word.  I wonder what it means.
• Who is that character?  Is it a friend or a relative?

Sometimes, you can follow-up by finding out the answer together.  You may have to go back and reread a part of the story or refer to the dictionary after reading.  Sometimes the question will go unanswered and, believe it or not, that’s okay too!  Skilled readers do that all the time. 

You will most certainly NOT be covering all of these strategies every time you sit down to read. If you did that, there would be no time left for reading!  Children respond to routine, and that is what you are establishing, even if you prompt different discussions each time.  The ultimate goal is to turn these oral discussions into your child’s automatic inner dialogue while he or she is reading silently.  If your child is having problems with “sounding out” words, model fluency for them by taking turns reading.   

I have never walked into my classroom on the first day to a group of children ready to discuss their predictions and inferences.  But by doing the above on a daily basis, I can say that these important strategies become part of their reading process.

Karen T. Hartline has been a New York City Public School teacher for the
last four years and now works as a freelance writer.  She has published for
several sites including a brand new website entitled
www.NYCUrbanJournal.com, which will be geared toward immigrant communities here in the city.  Karen has published several works of fiction in magazines such as Thought, Prose Ax and The Nassau Review and is currently working to produce her latest play entitled The Head.  Karen is also a member of the World Seido Karate Organization, where she is a second degree black belt.