Help Your Child at Home

  • READ! READ! READ!

    Boy ReadingRead to your child. Have your child read to you. Talk about what you have read. Ask your child for predictions about what the book will be about and as you read, ask your child to predict what will happen next. When you have finished reading, discuss the story or information. Ask your child to retell and explain the story or information. This helps your child think about what he/she is reading.

  • WRITE

    • With younger students, practice forming letters and word wall words at home on paper, in shaving cream, in the sand, or with magnetic letters.
    • Write books with your child about family activities or events. Take pictures or have your child draw them.
    • After reading, ask your child to draw or write about their favorite part of the story and why it is their favorite part.

    Writing and responding to what is read will help your child develop understanding and appreciation of many kinds of texts.

  • PRACTICE WORD WALL WORDS

    You can help your child practice sight words by playing a simple game of "Bingo" with old and new word wall words. Another game is "Go Fish!" Have your child type or write out a double set of words (more practice!) on similar sized rectangles, cut apart, and play cards (Do you have the word "will"? Turn over and spell "will.") You can add a twist to this game by using transfer words to match ("snap" would match to "trap") Don't forget to ask her/him to turn the card over and spell it. Remember to save last week's cards. You will want to add new cards to the game each week and continue reviewing old ones. Feel free to discontinue those that your child can spell, write and read with no hesitation.

  • CATEGORIES GAME

    Write a category on a piece of paper. Have your child list as many items that fit into this category as possible.

  • DETECTIVE

    Play detective! Always ask your child to discuss the front and back covers of a book before reading to make predictions about the contents. Also, do a picture walk through the book to pick up graphic clues that will help your child with meaning and possible vocabulary. When reading informational books, point out the table of contents, the index, the glossary, headings, diagrams, tables, photographs and captions. These are also clues and will help your child to gather more information.