There are a million blogs out there telling you what you can/should/could do right now. And yes, I'm piling on with one ask - wait, don't click away yet! If you have the time, can make the time, want a simple and highly rewarding practice supporting your student: read aloud to your kids, and let them read aloud to you.
That's it.
Reading can be really hard. Not for everyone, everywhere, all the time. But for kids learning to read, it's not natural: it's work. And for middle and high school students who can barely read, or read with difficulty, it's even harder work. Struggling with reading basics means your student has less bandwidth for comprehension, across all her/his/their subjects. More of my clients than I can count have benefited from reading support, and their issues run the gamut from phonics to comprehension.
Please let them read whatever they want to you. Don't offer judgement, but notice what they're struggling with. Focus on one thing at a time: decoding, expression, punctuation, comprehension.
Phonics (the sounds letters make) is a deeply important piece of decoding writing, and here's a post focusing on long vowels . Other things you might notice are decoding compound words (like something, anywhere, inside, without). What's worked for us is helping our student separate the words by blocking the second part. For something, you'd cover 'thing'.
Use that technique when you read aloud to them, too - fake it 'till they make it a part of their reading habits.
When you hear that thing improving, celebrate it. A movie, time off schoolwork, whatever they'd like. And then pick up the next thing.
Get everything you need to support your student, delivered in one perfectly individualized program: text 281-536-6689 for a free consultation.
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