Partner with Your Child's Grade K-2 Teacher
Teamwork between parents and teachers is essential for assuring that kids become accomplished readers and writers.
Your job now is to be a book buddy. As your child learns to read, she needs plenty of practice — with you and teachers by her side.
Connect with the teacher
Get involved in school
Things to do at home
Connect with the Teacher
Attend open-house events to learn class goals and policies, and communicate regularly through notes, phone calls, and conferences. "I jot questions to parents in the children's homework journals, asking things like 'How did this go?'" says Debra A. Weller, a kindergarten teacher at Bathgate Elementary School in Mission Viejo, California. "I need to know if a child is frustrated or bored."
It's important to be comfortable taking concerns to the teacher, agrees Marlene Srock, a first grade teacher at Bel Air Elementary School in Minot, North Dakota. "Say, 'This is what I see at home. Should I be expecting more?'"
If your child suddenly seems stressed or loses enthusiasm for school, he could be struggling with classwork. The teacher can suggest games to reinforce weak skills. "I'll often send home rhyming or Bingo games for parents to play with kids," says Weller.
It's essential to catch reading problems in the early grades, before kids fail. According to the National Institutes of Health, 95 percent of poor readers can catch up to grade level if helped before second grade.
Questions to ask:
- Has my kindergartener been assessed for knowledge of letter sounds, rhyming, and other reading readiness skills? Are her skills on track?
- How does my child's reading and writing compare to those of her classmates?
- What level books should she be reading? Can you send home samples or titles of what's read in class?
- What words should my child know by sight?
- What resources are available for advanced readers?
- Is there a reading specialist for children who struggle?
- Is the school’s reading instruction program phonics-based and recommended by the National Reading Panel? (This is a group of experts appointed by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to review the most effective approaches for teaching children to read.)
What to do if there's a problem:
- First have your pediatrician do a thorough medical checkup to rule out hearing or vision problems or other health-related issues that could be impacting learning.
- If your kindergartner or first-grader is having difficulty rhyming; recognizing letters; identifying sounds at the beginning, middle, and end of words; breaking words into sounds; or blending sounds together to form words, he will need extra instruction in letter sounds, stresses Susan L. Hall, coauthor of Parenting a Struggling Reader. Ask that the teacher or school reading specialist work with your child individually or in a small group. Under President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act, schools must provide screening and remedial instruction to any child considered at risk for a reading problem. “Don’t wait to get help,” Hall cautions. Researchers now know reading skills are most easily learned between the ages of 5 and 7.
- Monitor your child carefully in first grade. If you don’t see substantial improvement after remediation, you should have her fully evaluated for a learning disability. You can arrange this through the school’s child-study team or committee on special education. “As you wait for testing results, consider hiring a reading tutor in the meantime,” suggests Hall.
Get Involved in School
"Teachers always need adults to come in and listen to the children read in small groups," says Srock. This is a great way to see how your child's reading compares to that of his peers.
"My son's first grade teacher invited parents to bring in a favorite book to read on their child's birthday," says Anne Ramstetter Wenzel, of Menlo Park, California. "It was so much better than sending in cupcakes!" Ask if you can donate a book to the class in your child's honor. Or, if your school has a publishing center, volunteer to help produce students' books or offer to help with book-binding at home in the evenings.
- Play word games: "In order to read fluently, kids need practice blending sounds together and playing with word patterns," says Weller. Have a race to make up words with magnetic refrigerator letters. You could start with the word "dog" and see how many new words you can make by substituting different consonants at the beginning. Go on a treasure hunt to find things in the house that begin with certain sounds. Or play "I spy" using letters. Kindergartners can start simply ("I spy something that begins with B") and work up to more challenging sounds in first and second grade ("I spy something that begins with Br").
- Be a writing coach: Encourage your child to write letters, stories, thank-you notes, and shopping lists. "But don't spell everything for him," cautions Weller. "Help him write the word cat, for example, using ‘ear spelling,’" she says. "Ask ‘What's the first sound you hear when you say the word? What's the sound in the middle? What's the last sound you hear?’"
- Keep reading aloud: "Children can understand oral reading information that's two grade levels above what they can read alone," notes Nancy Zimmerman, president of the American Association of School Librarians. Include non-illustrated chapter books to challenge children to visualize what's happening.
- Listen to your child read: If she stumbles on a word, help her sound it out, but don't let her struggle too much. "Too many interruptions stop the flow and hamper comprehension," says Srock. Tell the child to tap you when she's ready for you to provide the word. If your child is reluctant to read alone, read along with her, or take turns reading a sentence or paragraph at a time. Start with simple preschool favorites, such as Dr. Seuss' Hop on Pop, and move on to easy readers and simple chapter books as your child gains confidence and competence. "Your teacher should let you know the appropriate-level books for your child," says Weller. "Always have a couple of the next-level books ready at home, so that as your child advances, you'll have books to meet the challenge."
Parent's Tip
"My son struggled with reading and writing activities in kindergarten," says Amy Ottinger of San Francisco. "So at the end of the year, I asked his kindergarten teacher to lend me books that I could read with him over the summer to reinforce letter sounds and sight words needed for first grade. He made tremendous gains in first grade, and is now reading at grade level."
