How to help my first grader with reading

Reading Tips for Parents of First Graders

By: Reading Rockets

Give your child lots of opportunities to read aloud. Inspire your young reader to practice every day! The tips below offer some fun ways you can help your child become a happy and confident reader. Try a new tip each week. See what works best for your child.

These tips for parents of first graders are also available to download and print:

Don’t leave home without it

Bring along a book or magazine any time your child has to wait, such as at a doctor's office. Always try to fit in reading!

Once is not enough

Encourage your child to re-read favorite books and poems. Re-reading helps kids read more quickly and accurately.

Dig deeper into the story

Ask your child questions about the story you've just read. Say something like, "Why do you think Clifford did that?"

Take control of the television

It's difficult for reading to compete with TV and video games. Encourage reading as a free-time activity.

Be patient

When your child is trying to sound out an unfamiliar word, give him or her time to do so. Remind to child to look closely at the first letter or letters of the word.

Pick books that are at the right level

Help your child pick books that are not too difficult. The aim is to give your child lots of successful reading experiences.

Play word games

Have your child sound out the word as you change it from mat to fat to sat; from sat to sag to sap; and from sap to sip.

I read to you, you read to me

Take turns reading aloud at bedtime. Kids enjoy this special time with their parents.

Gently correct your young reader

When your child makes a mistake, gently point out the letters he or she overlooked or read incorrectly. Many beginning readers will guess wildly at a word based on its first letter.

Talk, talk, talk!

Talk with your child every day about school and things going on around the house. Sprinkle some interesting words into the conversation, and build on words you've talked about in the past.

Write, write, write!

Ask your child to help you write out the grocery list, a thank you note to Grandma, or to keep a journal of special things that happen at home. When writing, encourage your child to use the letter and sound patterns he is learning at school.

Reading tips in other languages

A downloadable handout, for parents of babies, toddlers, and children in preschool to grade 3, is available in the following languages:

Reading tips for parents of…

Reading Rockets (2021)

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1st Grade Reading Activities For Struggling Readers

First grade is often where your child’s reading foundation is developed thoroughly. This is an essential grade for your child to establish their reading level and progress. However, sometimes children might struggle as they try to advance their reading skills. If you find that your child is struggling with reading, you can help them by trying these 1st grade reading activities for struggling readers.

What reading skills should my 1st grader have?

Your first grader is definitely a full-fledged reader now! They already have many reading skills that they are continuing to improve and also acquiring new reading skills.

By the end of first grade, your child will have learned 150 sight words. They also should be familiar with many one syllable words and high-frequency words.

In first grade, they should be able to understand the basic structure and features of a sentence.

By now, they are also able to talk about what they have been reading and be able to answer content questions. Your child should also be able to understand the differences between fiction and non-fiction books and texts.

If you find that your child is struggling with any of these reading skills, they might need some more practice or intervention to help them get to their appropriate reading level.

How often should my 1st grader be reading?

When it comes to practicing their reading skills, first graders on average should be reading at least 10 minutes every day.

This might not seem like a lot of time but even just 10 minutes of reading time can help make a massive improvement in their reading skills. Make the 10 minutes a daily habit for your child like brushing their teeth.

Also, while 10 minutes is a good average number for all readers, struggling readers might be overwhelmed with anything more than that.

Some children might be hesitant or resist reading every day at first, but there are ways to make reading fun and an activity they look forward to doing.

How do you make reading fun for struggling readers?

Reading can be difficult for some first graders. It is important to be patient but also encouraging with your struggling reader. Here are some activities to make reading fun for them to get them to read every day:

Read as a family – Reading as a family not only creates strong bonds, but it also helps to give your child a model for good reading habits. When they see you prioritize reading, they are more likely to value it and prioritize it as well.

You can schedule 10 minutes for everyone to read their own books together or you can choose a book as a family to read aloud.

Read on TV – Using television as a reading tool might seem counterintuitive, but it is a great way to get your child to read without even knowing it!

When your child is watching television turn on the subtitles so that they can watch and read at the same time. This is a strategy commonly used with students learning a second language to practice both reading and listening skills.

Visit a library – Get your child excited to read by going on a couple “reading field trips” such as going to a library. You can tour your local library and have your child pick out a few books to take home.
Visit a museum – Another great “reading field trip” option is to visit a museum. Museums often have a ton of great reading practice opportunities, and you can also prep your child before the visit by reading an article or story about the museum.
Talk to an author – What better way to get your child about reading a book than by talking to the person that wrote it?

While you might not be able to talk to J.K. Rowling, many children’s books authors have meet ups at local bookstores or you can ask to talk to them virtually through Zoom.

Websites like Cameo also have some authors offering to record personalized videos, so you can have an author create a video just for your child!

Create reading goals – Reading goals can help your child see the progress they are making and helps to keep them motivated. You can help them visualize and meet these goals by creating a reading goal chart or tracker and display it somewhere they will always see it.
Use a reading app – Technology is your greatest tool to help with your struggling readers. Try using reading apps such as Readability which acts like a private reading tutor for your child. They can get reading help whenever and wherever they need it!
Get them to write – Reading and writing are closely related language skills. Often, good readers make good writers, and good writers make good readers.

You can encourage your child to practice their writing and reading skills by making comic books or short stories together then read them as their daily reading material.

First grade is a critical time for young readers to improve their reading skills and build new ones. Using activities and tools such as Readability can make reading fun and interactive for struggling or reluctant readers. Encouraging your child to read every day can help them to become a better reader and actually learn to enjoy reading.

How to help a first grader who does not read well

If you explain to a child why he is doing something and show that it is interesting, then he will not have to be forced or persuaded. This method works great with reading. Our blogger Ekaterina Buneeva wrote a plan for working with the text to captivate the child and show what a pleasure it is to read.

First graders have been studying at school for four months. Do they love to read? Are they interested in reading lessons? If your child likes it, congratulations! And if not, I can guess why:

The child reads slowly, fails to keep up with the pace of the class.
It's still difficult to read on your own, so it's boring. Likes to be read aloud to him.
Reads well, so reading and listening in class is not interesting.

There may be other reasons for not liking reading, but there is only one way to help: you need the process itself to captivate the child. How to do it? Read together. An important condition: you yourself should be interested. Try to act like this.

1. Reading the title and looking at the pictures

Have the child read the name of the text. Look at the illustrations together and discuss what and who will be discussed.

“Have you already guessed who the heroes are?”
"What will it be - a story, a fairy tale, a poem? How did you understand this (a)?
"What do you want to ask the author of the text?"

Choose questions depending on the content of the text. Now you can read it and check your assumptions.

2. Reading to ourselves

It is good if for the first time the child tries to read at least a small piece to himself. Much depends on the text and the level of the child. If he is not very tall, at first it is better to take short and light texts, but let him try to read to himself. Just don't rush it in any case.

Then ask the child what he understood and felt, what he thought. Discuss together which of your assumptions were confirmed and which were not. First listen to the child, and then express your opinion.

3. Now let's read aloud

If the child is having difficulty, take turns reading. Just don't just "voice" the text. Use the techniques of so-called "slow" reading: pause where you need to comment on something, explain a word or answer a child's question, engage in a dialogue with the author of the text.

Many children ask questions while reading, and that's great! In no case do not say: “I’ll finish reading it, then you’ll ask!” or "Don't interrupt! If you don't want to listen, read it yourself!" Follow the child, his reaction, emotions and thoughts.

4. Choosing a passage

When you have seen the child's emotional reaction to the text and made sure that he understood it, offer to expressively read aloud the passage that he himself chooses.

Be sure to offer your version of expressive reading - but later. Let the child read first. “How interesting you did it! And I would read it like this ... ".

5. Let's talk about the writer

If you know some bright, interesting facts about the writer's biography, tell your child about them. Be sure to ask what kind of person the author of the text seems to him: how he relates to people, to life, what he likes and disagrees with, whether he has a sense of humor, and so on.

In general, the idea is to read together, emotionally experience the text, understand the content and share your reading discoveries. Even if the first grader is still reading slowly and uncertainly, such joint reading will show him how interesting and exciting this process is.

Using one text as an example, I will show how my granddaughter and I read together. “What is the text about? What would you like to ask?" The granddaughter asked who was going to visit the gnome, and I asked like this: “I wonder if the gnome has some kind of holiday?” Together we suggested that, most likely, yes, a holiday, but it is not yet clear which one, you need to read.

2. “Here is a picture for this story. Look: what can you guess? In the picture, the gnome puts the samovar.

3. We read the text to ourselves. When the child read, I ask: “Now have we found out what holiday the gnome has and who came to visit?”

4. Now we read aloud one by one, I comment on the text and have a dialogue with the author.

Symbols:

B - a question that the reader asked the author of the text in the course of reading;

O - reader's answer, his assumptions;

P - check if your answer matches the one given by the author of the text.

Visiting the gnome

The gnome's house is far away in the forest. The gnome has a birthday. (O: “What a holiday!”) Guests rush to him (B: “I wonder who they are and why they are in a hurry?” A: The child answers, I don’t comment in any way, read on). Here the owl flew off the branch and flew to the house. (O: “First guest!”) The mole left early and walked along the path for a long time. (O: “Here’s another guest.” Q: “Why did the mole walk for a long time, did you guess?” A: We clarify that moles live underground, they don’t see well in the light, which means the mole is walking slowly. Here it is in the picture.)

The first to jump was a deer with daisies. Then came beavers with water lilies. (O: "Of course, they are the fastest!" Q: "And daisies and water lilies - to whom?") Bees arrived with delicious honey. (P: “Guests are gathering. And everyone has a present!” We found the answer who the guests are.) The little fox carefully carried the basket with raspberries past the rosehip bushes. (Q: “Why carefully, guessed?” A: “Of course! The little fox has a beautiful fur coat, and the dogrose is prickly.”) The snail came after the mole. That's all the guests in place! (Q: “Guessed why the snail came later than everyone else?” A: The child answers.) There are sweet pies on the table, the samovar is boiling. The gnome is happy with the gifts.

5. We discuss what we have read. "How many guests are there? Let's count. Can you list everyone? Why were they in a hurry?" We decide that all the friends wanted to please the gnome on his birthday, they were afraid to be late and therefore were in a hurry. Here is a mole - he left in advance, and the snail hurried as best he could.

6. What does this text tell about the author? The child said that the author is kind, cheerful and loves gifts. I agreed.

7. Expressively read aloud. The granddaughter chose about a fox and a snail, and then she wanted to draw a festive table and gifts. It turned out beautiful!

This is how we read, and we are both interested.

In general, I will repeat my main idea: first, the child must have an interest and desire to learn to read. And then you can deal with technology and everything else.

Have fun reading together as a child!

You are in the "Blogs" section. The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.

Illustration: Shutterstock (Masyhurizal)

Step by step instructions from Gaidarovka

By the beginning of the academic year Central Children's Library. A.P. Gaidar offers a plan for developing the reading skill of a first-grader. The step-by-step instruction is designed for 9 academic months, and at the end there is a mini-list of books about studying, reading and schoolchildren. Go!

With the advent of a first-grader, many things change in the family: from logistics to the psychological atmosphere. Even if the parents responsibly and scrupulously approached the choice of the school, and especially the first teacher, they still have fears: what if the school curriculum, the very principles of teaching, lists of references, which are formed as if without taking into account the interests of the little reader, will discourage him from taking a book into your hands? But the habit of reading, which does not arise and does not develop without love, craving and interest, is a basic skill for successful learning. Without it, the whole structure of knowledge transfer collapses.

And, in the end, not everything in this life rests on knowledge and benefit, nobody canceled the pleasure from a good book either.

And what should parents do in this situation?

To slip only the modern, nag “read-read-read”, pay for what you read, support by your own example, read yourself everywhere and everywhere, discarding gadgets, or shift all responsibility onto the shoulders of the teacher?

Deputy Director of the Central City Children's Library. A.P. Gaidar Marina Solomonova advises parents to remember: “School is school, but no one knows your child better than you, his pace of learning new things and the pace of life in principle. What is your dreamer, good-natured, or bully? But the school curriculum for all these children will be the same.”

To help parents, we came up with a plan with life hacks for the entire school year. However, not only parents of first graders can use it: it is also suitable for preschoolers and other younger students. It is important to simply understand which stage your child is currently at and smoothly move him to the next level. The main thing is not to take the plan literally and enjoy reading together.

September. Reading aloud as psychotherapy

At this stage, reading is a ritual, a cozy habit, a time for parent and child only. The little man is in the process of adapting to new conditions. Even in the most ideal case (we wish you just that), he experiences the stress of changing his life, and a pleasant ritual helps to reduce anxiety. With the beginning of school, you should not give up the habitual reading aloud at night and transfer the child only to independent reading, even if he can read and does it well himself.

Oct. Separate reading, reading in turn with a parent

The oldest and kindest way to get a child interested in books. Sheer manipulation for good. You open something very exciting, and at the most interesting place you sigh: "I'm tired of something, let's finish it tomorrow?" For parents-facilitators who do not even accept this type of manipulation, a life hack - try to agree with the child to read in fairness: the page is me, the page is you. It’s not a fact that it will help, but then the next item will help you.

Nov. Reading-competition for speed

Unfortunately, competition in any school, even super-liberal, cannot be avoided. There will always be children in the class who read faster, more, more voluminously, in the original. Someone competitive moment motivates. But some children refuse to compete or are frustrated by such speed reading. What do we offer for those who do not want to participate in this? Paying for a page read and penalizing for an unread page are barbaric, outdated methods.

Play and fantasize! If a child needs to master skills that are not close to him in a short time, you can do this through a game form. For example, imagine that he is a gamer passing through the levels of the game. The reward for passing should be intangible, let it be an experience or pleasure: a picnic, rides, an interesting trip. Everything a child wants and loves.

December. Independent reading

It is difficult for children to read on their own. At first, agree that you read together. You are your book, the child is yours. For starters, 15-20 minutes is enough. Read while sitting next to each other.

It is also important to include this in the existing daily routine of the first grader as a new item. If possible, choose to read at the same time of the day or evening. And complement it with an atmosphere: a blanket, a lamp, calmly and well together. The more peaceful reading brings, the better. This ritual is a complete replacement or a great addition to reading aloud at night.

January. Vacation Reading

Get the most out of it. Make an event out of reading on vacation. You can go to a library or a bookstore, walk between the shelves for a long time, choose, flip through, buy a special shopper, funny bookmarks, notepads for quotes, impressions, drawings. And, of course, choose an atmospheric New Year or Christmas story - there will definitely be a lot of such books in libraries and stores at this time.

Feb. Reading what is not interesting to read according to the school curriculum

If the program requires you to read a dull poem or an uninteresting story, turn on the “at least something good” principle. Is there anything good in this? Phrase, word, author's name, joke or dialogue?

This principle, by the way, will be useful not only for reading, but will be useful further - during study in general.

Mar. Reading and writing

From reading to writing, but not in a direct way. Invite your child to describe his past day in one word and write this word in capital letters. Try to come up with new words every day and not repeat yourself.

You will start with the word "normal", but then everything will be much more interesting.

April. Reader's diary.

Let the child keep a diary as he wants. Write down everything that comes to mind, and don't be afraid of mistakes and absurdities, play and remember funny cases. Spilled juice on a book? Did a strange bird fly in while reading? All this can be written down, even if it is not directly related to what was read.

May. Summer Reading List

This month's motto is total autonomy.

Invite the child to think over and form a list of books for the summer holidays, estimate how much he will master, what topics interest him most - and go to the library together. At this stage, the Moscow “Summer Reading Program”, which takes place every year in the libraries of the capital, will help you.

Its goal is to introduce children to reading, the main principle is the absence of competition, and the motto is "Reading is pleasure and a variety of opportunities."

List of books about school and study:

The book as medicine for children, Ella Berthou, Susan Elderkin
Like a novel, Daniel Pennack
Calculation. How to help your child fall in love with reading”, Yulia Kuznetsova
Franz Tales series, Christine Nöstlinger
Big Little Girl series, Maria Bershadskaya
"My happy life" and other books by Ruse Lagercrantz
Ella in First Class, Timo Parvela
"Notes of an outstanding loser", Artur Givargizov
Matilda, Roald Dahl

This autumn, the Central City Children's Library named after A.