Start the New Year Reading!
Fall, 2025
Welcome back to a great new year of reading.
Remember: you can read anytime, anywhere!
Reading can be alone, and reading can be with friends or family.
Reading can be story-telling or sounding out words.
Reading can be listening to audiobooks or sharing a book with your stuffed animal.
Reading can be in English or in a language your family prefers.
Reading can be books or comics or magazines or websites.
Just read.
Every day.
Sometimes it's easy for a beginning reader to guess the word based on a picture or the first sound. However, it is important to coach students to look at the whole word, from beginning to end.
Families can encourage young readers to point to the words while they are reading.
When children make an error, try not to correct them right away. Instead, ask them if what they read makes sense. Then, remind them to use what they know about their sounds and to check again.
When children are struggling to sound out a word, give them some time (and, if they are not pointing, guide their pointer finger).
There are so many games you can play while driving!
"I spy with my eye something that rhymes with far!" (Car)
"I spy with my eye something that rhymes with fly!" (Sky)
"I see something that starts with B. It's in this car. What can it be?" (Backpack)
"I know something that ends with N. It's a color. What can it be?" (Green/ Brown)
Then, of course, there's looking for letters on signs and license plates.
Older students can practice reading names of places and give directions based on what they read.
You can make up funny sentences with rhymes or with a sound repeating again and again.
"The clown's frown was upside-down in town when he wore a brown crown."
"A wild wombat walked to work on Wednesday."
The important thing is to have fun!
(Nonsense words are fine when you are playing with rhymes!)
Read books together and talk about them. Ask questions about the characters, and make connections with your own lives.
Even if you haven't all read the same book, you can ask questions like the following:
- Why do you think that happened?
- What do you think will happen next?
- What did you like about this book? Why?
You can ask these questions about videos and movies, too! Get them thinking about what they are experiencing.
Take trips to the library. It's free! Chat with the children's librarian who always has great ideas.
Adults should model reading, too. This also gives some quiet time for everyone! Then, share age-appropriate details about what you're reading!
Bedtime stories are also magnificent for sharing reading time and talking about books.
Practice reading books or passages again and again. This develops fluency and understanding.
(Dr. Bengels has read The Little Prince 538 times, and will surely make it to 1000!)
In school, students practicing private reading and partner reading.
At home, students can read to siblings, pets, stuffed animals, parents, neighbors....anyone!
Don't forget poetry and nursery rhymes!
Many students enjoy corresponding with relatives who don't live close by. They can Zoom/FaceTime relatives and share books they've practiced reading. It makes great connections as well!
Film your child reading and save it for the future. They'll be so proud of how much they've grown!
Read short plays or Readers' Theater together. Practice and film!
Again, the more you read, the better you become as a reader, and the more fun it gets!