Have you noticed your child make small word errors when reading, like “a” instead of “the” or “in” instead of “on?” Sometimes those errors don’t matter because they don’t really change the meaning, but if you leave the word “not” out of a sentence, it will certainly change the meaning. Thus, we want to make sure that children are able to slow down and match what they’re reading 100% of the time.
The easiest way to accomplish this when you’re listening to your child read aloud is to have them finish the sentence and then ask if they know where they made an error and say:
“I’m going to read that sentence back just the way you did. See if you can catch the small word that was different.”
Read it back exactly the way they read it to you. Hopefully, your child will say, “OH, that’s the word on, not in.” If you do that repeatedly, every time they make one of those small word errors, they will get in the habit of being more careful about reading the words exactly the way they are written on the page.
We hope this helps your child read more accurately (and confidently!) For more tips on helping your child become a confident reader, keep scrolling and grab our free copy of 9 Simple Ways to Boost Your Child’s Reading Confidence.
