Do you read like a robot? Step 3.
The next step on the reading train is fluency. Fluency is a fancy way of saying “does your child read and it’s enjoyable to listen to?” We’ve all had the experience, if you’re on this page, to hear a child read and it sounds choppy. It may sound like a robot, it may be hard to listen to, and difficult to follow along. Let me assure you if it’s hard for you to listen to then likely it’s hard for your child to understand what they are reading.
I follow this rule of thumb; A child uses a lot of brain energy on sounding out words if they are reading choppy and disconnected. This means that the child isn’t actually hearing or taking in the literature. This is an issue because we like to say the point of reading is comprehension.
Fluency will come after great work is put into phonics and phonemic awareness. There is no way around this. If your child can’t sound out a word, there is no fluency to sound the word out better. End of story.
Why does this matter?
Your child needs to practice fluency to get better at reading. period. Fluecy makes reading easier to follow for their brain. So, comphrension comes after reading smoothly so the brain can follow along.
How can I help?
You can reread anything! ANYTHING! In fact your child should be rereading. The fact we just bust through books and don’t give them another shot is silly. Your child reads, then forgets and moves on, but rereading is totally okay. In fact they will be better readers if they run through the reading again.
Listening to audio books, this is crutual to hearing what reading should sound like, it’s also like exercising their comprehension brain but without much effort.
Play fluency pretend. Pretend you’re a robot and read a passage your child can read. Have them tell you how fast or slow to read. This will show them how it sounds when it’s choppy.
Play reading goldilocks. Tell them to put a thumb up to read fast, and a thumb down to read slow, and a thumb in the middle when you’re reading just right. This helps them see the difference. Now after you go, make them be the reader.
These are simple was to practice. Below are some of my favorite audio stories read by fellow parents. Philip and mommy even showcases my book!
Storytime with Philip and Mommy: https://open.spotify.com/episode/77Zey7dimDOunn0aHIcdDr?si=00a91fd8231b4e30
Disney story: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4AWAzOeJrB2G40cwusMxvQ?si=0ca4d297ed544321
Storytime with K: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7qCKdjd8jUjiy73BzJm0Bc?si=569eae8611e644ec
Search on spotify or where you listen for Children’s Audio books there are a TON!
Local library for their audio books, you’ll need headphones. Great for long trips.
