Helping Struggling Readers at School

As a parent or teacher of a struggling reader, there are many things that can be done to improve your student’s reading ability.  Many schools have literacy teachers who provide extra assistance to struggling readers.  These teachers should provide reading support in ADDITION to what the classroom teacher is providing.  In an ideal situation, your child should be receiving guided reading from their classroom teacher daily, as well as additional support from a literacy teacher at least three times a week.

If your child is receiving daily whole language instruction and is still struggling with reading, perhaps it is time to try a new instructional approach.  Many struggling readers do well with a phonemically based program.  These programs teach students the rules behind reading, taking the confusion out of decoding.  Many children do not realize that there are rules explaining how letters and sounds combine to make words.  Direct instruction explaining these rules will provide students with the knowledge they need to decode unknown words.

Students will also need to be taught high frequency words (sight words).  These words do not follow the rules of the English language and therefore must be memorized.  This will be difficult for students who have a poor memory.  These students should be taught sight words through a multi-sensory approach.  Start by having the students “rainbow write” the words on a piece of paper.  They do this by taking a box of crayons and tracing the word in each color.  Then have the students spell the word in the air with their arm.  Next, have the students trace the words in rice or sand.  Every time they write the word, have them say the letters as they spell it and then state the word once they complete their writing.

Have your student read a passage while timing themselves.  Once they have finished, have them record their time and reread the passage.  Tell them to try and beat their previous time.  Rereading a familiar passage will help children to build their fluency.

If alternate strategies have been attempted within the classroom and your student is not making adequate progress, it may be time to consider referring your child for special education services.  Talk to your child’s classroom teacher and ask them what alternate strategies they have attempted with your child.  There are many different strategies that can be used, and there is not one correct way.  Just be certain that the teacher is providing your child with extra support.

Helping Struggling Readers at Home

As a parent of a struggling reader, there are many things you can do to support your child at home.

Purchase magnet letters and a metal cookie tray.  Have your child spell words with you on the tray.  Ask your child’s teacher for a grade level sight word list or focus on words that are spelled similarly and have your child change the appropriate letter.  For example, have your child spell at, and make it hat.  They can then take hat and turn it into sat.  Once they master this, they can take sat and make it say spat… and so on.

Use Wikki Sticks to have your child create letters and words.  You can write the words on an index card and have your child put the Wikki Sticks directly on your writing.  Once they have mastered this, remove the model and ask them to create the words on their own.

Have your child write words on a white board.  Ask them to write some of their sight words.  Next, write some new words on the board and ask them to help you read them.

Write words on index cards and keep them in your car.  Whenever you get stuck in traffic with your child you can pull out the cards and practice reading.

Read aloud to your child.  Not only will they love spending quality time with you, they will learn from watching you.  Once you finish reading, ask them some questions about the story to see what they comprehended.  Start with literal questions ( who, what, when and where) and then move onto more inferential questions (why and how).

Let your child reread their favorite books to you, even if they seem too easy.  Rereading familiar books is a great way for children to increase their fluency.  Encourage them to use expression in their voice.

These are just some suggestions for activities that help struggling readers.  I encourage you to read more about different strategies that can be used to help improve your child’s reading ability.

Excellent resources:

That’s a Great Answer by Nancy Boyles

Word Matters: Teaching Phonics and Spelling in the Reading and Writing Classroom by Gay Su Pinnell

Guiding Readers and Writers Grade 3-6 Teaching Comprehension, Gerne, and Content Literacy by Irene C. Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell

Explode the Code by Nancy Hall

Parents… I’m going to let you in on a little secret.  Teachers love to show off their education.  They will use terms and phrases in conversation that only other educators would recognize.  Don’t be discouraged.  We are no more intelligent than you, we just have specific training in current educational practices.  If you don’t understand, ask for clarification.  We will not judge you or view you as ignorant and we will be more than happy to explain.  As for the teachers out there, don’t forget your ultimate purpose is to help educate your students.  If you don’t help parents to understand what their child is doing in school and how to reinforce it at home, then you are not fulfilling your purpose.  Technical terms tend to intimidate parents.  Choose your words carefully and explain yourself.  Parents will not get involved if they feel they have nothing to add and if they don’t understand what you are saying, what could they possibly contribute?

Here’s another secret for the parents out there.  Society has become quite accusatory over the past few years and, quite honestly, it makes teachers nervous.  In my first few years of teaching I would dread calling parents on the phone.  What did I do wrong?  Why are they calling me?  Will I sound educated enough?  Will they ask me a question I didn’t have an answer to?  This line of thought would put me on the defensive, even before the parent opened their mouth to explain the reason for their phone call.  No wonder many parents find communication with teachers difficult.  We’re already defending our work with students before we even know the topic of conversation!  How can we address the parent’s concern properly if we are never open enough to listen without judgment?  Perhaps the parent is unhappy with something that happened in the classroom … maybe they just have a question… either way, they need to know that their input is valued and will be taken seriously.  If we complain about the lack of parent involvement, but treat parents with disdain when they contact us, we are the ones to blame. Classrooms need to be parent friendly places.  After all, they are entrusting us all day with their most precious belonging.  We need to prove to them that we deserve that trust, and the only way to do that is to have open communication.

How to Create a Parent Friendly Classroom

• Call each one of your parents before school starts.  Letters are impersonal, while calling will help you to develop a relationship with parents.  Introduce yourself and provide some tidbit of personal information, then ask a parent a non-invasive personal question such as “Did your family do anything exciting this summer?”  Exchanging information on a personal level, no matter how trivial the information may seem, will allow parents to view you as a real person who is approachable.
• Provide parents with two ways to communicate with you.  Parents are not always available to discuss their children during working hours.  Email or communication books allow parents to stay in contact without inconveniencing them.
• Invite parents into your classroom, and more importantly, have them do a meaningful activity with the kids.  Have them do a read aloud or play an educational game.  Don’t just send them to the copy room with a pile of papers to copy.  Making copies will NOT make them feel valued.  Instead it will emphasize feelings of inadequacy in regard to their child’s education that they may already have.
• Send home a monthly classroom newsletter keeping parents apprised of important information.  Include work samples from different students each month so parents can see what you are working on.
• Most importantly, stay away from technical jargon.  Speak in parent-friendly terms.  In order to develop a relationship with parents, you must make them feel comfortable.

I’m not saying these suggestions will solve the problem of poor parent involvement that we are plagued with in America, but it will certainly improve it for some.  The First Days of School: How to Be and Effective Teacher by Harry K. Wong and Rosemary T. Wong is an excellent resource if you are looking for more ideas.

It is amazing how much this has changed over the years.  Many parents have become distant from the public school system.  They do not attend parent teacher conferences or return phone calls.  Sometimes they don’t even leave a way to contact them.  I cannot tell you how many times I have called a parent to update them on their child’s progress, just to find out that their phone number has been disconnected and that they neglected to give their new number to the school.  And I use the word neglected because I truly feel that many parents are guilty of just that … educational neglect.

These days, parents do not see that they play a role in their child’s education.  Children are expected to complete their homework on their own, organize their own book bags and pack their own lunches.  Is it a wonder why little Johnny is coming into school with incomplete homework, no pencils and Doritos for lunch?  Children only know what we teach them.  The years that we spend helping them with homework and teaching them how to be organized and healthy will follow through to their adulthood.  The habits that they develop now will be the habits they have for life.  It is NOT the sole job of your child’s teacher to educate your child.  Our children are quite intuitive.  They pick up on much more than we realize.  I guarantee that if you are not interested in your child’s education, then they aren’t either.

With all this said, I also understand that we live in a different world than we did 30 years ago.  Our society no longer allows for one parent to remain home during the day and make parenting their full time job.  The cost of living in America is so high that, in many families, both parents must contribute financially.  No one is saying that it is going to be easy … but you MUST make the time.  If you show your child that you can find the time to make their education important, then they will find time to do the same.

Pointers for Busy Parents

• Give your child’s teacher your email address.  That way you can have an open line of communication and you don’t need to make yourself available during working hours.

• Join the Parent Teacher Association (PTA).  They always meet at night to accommodate everyone’s schedules and they will keep you apprised of important issues in your school that you may of otherwise never known about.

• Use one of your vacation days to volunteer in your child’s school.  I know that you would rather save that day to use on the beach later on in the year… but remember, your child is watching.  If you use one of you vacation days to come to school, they will see how important it is to come as well.

• ALWAYS sit with your child as they complete their homework.  Don’t do it for them, but sit next to them as they complete it.  Read a book or write in a journal, but do some activity that looks similar to the homework that they have.  This way you are modeling the importance of completing homework and you are available for them if they need help.

• Pack your child’s backpack and lunch the night before and ask your child to help you.  Use this opportunity to reinforce how to organize their backpack and pack a healthy lunch.

• Do your best to have a family dinner every night.  Studies have shown that students who have family dinners are more likely to do well in school  (Not to mention, they are less likely to do drugs).  Use this time to talk about your child’s school day and ask them what they have learned.

I hope you will find my suggestions helpful and that you will consider this… Parents are the first teachers that a child has.  You have an important job.  Please take it seriously.

Educational standards have been raised to the point of pure frustration for many students and teachers, and as a result school climate is stressed and tense.  Students and teachers alike are pressured from the beginning of September with thoughts of the ominous standardized tests, hanging over their heads like a threatening black cloud.  Eight year old children begin having panic attacks when March hits and find themselves nauseous with the thought of going to school.

Gone are the carefree days of childhood in which children are able to learn through discovery and develop a passion for knowledge.  Instead, students are pressured to obtain goals far beyond their developmental age and if they are successful, the goals are raised to almost unachievable heights.  Students who are not developmentally ready to be stretched that far are being left in the dust and at the same time, the number of students who are labeled as special education is growing exponentially.  Is this a coincidence?  Or are we pushing our students to the brink of failure?  It’s no wonder students seem to be devoid of the social skills and consideration of others that we had at their age.  Eight, nine and ten year old boys and girls are living with more stress in their lives than is conscionable and yet we are still told our country is not “making the grade”.

In this blog I intend to share my views on the inner workings of the public school system, the strengths and weaknesses that I see on a day to day basis and the changes that I believe need to be made in order to mold healthy well-rounded young men and women.  After all, that is the desired end result of education.