Red Apple Reading Magazine March 2016 | Page 4

W W W. R E D A P P L E R E A D I N G . C O M HELPING CHILDREN BECOME MORE FLUENT READERS Fluency is the ability to read a passage smoothly and at a reasonable pace without having to pause to sound out words. Simple reading skills are fine for simple books, but when your child is ready for more complex reading material, having to stop and sound out every word can be incredibly frustrating! Without fluency kids can easily lose comprehension and become too annoyed by their slow pace to enjoy reading. Here are some tips for helping your kiddos develop fluency. MEMORIZE SIGHT WORDS Sight words are common words such as “the” and “have” that your child should be able to recognize without sounding out. Flash cards are the usual go-to for learning these words quickly, but there are a multitude of other fun ways to incorporate the learning of these words – check out some of them here. The important thing is to get these words down so your kiddo doesn’t get hung up on them while reading. RE-READ FAVORITE STORIES Believe it or not, re-reading the same stories over and over does more than just bore you to sleep! When your children re-read their favorite stories with you, they’re becoming more familiar with more complex words by seeing them over and over again. They can also learn to read them more naturally because 4