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How to help your child become a fluent reader

Reading opens up a whole new world of information, inspiration, and adventure to your child, but what’s a parent to do when a child needs a bit of extra guidance to transition from the decoding stage to more fluent reading? This month, we answer a common question that our consultants hear from parents: “How can I help improve my child’s reading fluency and comprehension?”

What is reading fluency?

Reading fluency—reading accurately, smoothly, and with expression—is an important bridge between decoding (word recognition) and reading comprehension. Once a child reads fluently and doesn’t have to struggle through sounding out or recognizing most words, he can more readily comprehend what he reads.

Learning strategist Steve Peha says that fluent and expressive readers do four things as they read aloud:

1. They change pitch. Expressive readers make their voices go up and down. They go up at the beginning of a sentence and down at the end (up slightly if it ends with a question mark). They also go up and down to differentiate the words of a speaker (often high in pitch) from those of the narrator (usually lower). Changes in pitch often help readers understand where different ideas begin and end.
2. They change rhythm. Expressive readers speed up and slow down when they read. They also take appropriate pauses—big ones at the end of a sentence, smaller ones in between, after commas, and also at logical points like phrase and clause boundaries. Changes in rhythm often help readers understand how small parts of sentences combine to create a complete thought.
3. They change volume. Expressive readers say some words louder than others. In general, little words are said softer than more important words. Changes in volume are often used to create emphasis.
4. They change tone. Sometimes readers use a soft, warm voice; sometimes their voice is cold and hard. They do this to communicate different feelings—soft and warm usually means nice, calm, or even sad; hard and cold can mean scary, angry, or excited.¹

Literacy education expert Dr. Timothy Rasinski’s rubric for multi-dimensional fluency can help parents evaluate a child’s reading expression, phrasing, smoothness, and pace. (See hslda.org/Q318Fluency.)

Reading aloud to model fluency

One way to help improve your child’s fluency is to model fluent, expressive reading as you read to him. Most of us read aloud to our little ones, but once they are able to read on their own, we tend to leave the reading to the children themselves. No matter the age of our children, reading aloud is still a valuable family activity! Hearing good literature read aloud fosters your children’s love for language, builds vocabulary, motivates them to read, and encourages them to use their imagination. It also trains their auding (listening) and comprehension skills.

Jim Trelease, author of The Read-Aloud Handbook, reported that “beginning kindergarten children who had been read to at least three times a week had a significantly greater phonemic awareness (phonics) than did children who were read to less often, and were almost twice as likely to score in the top 25 percent in reading readiness.”²

You can select books related to what your child is studying, or you can just pick something you enjoy reading. Ask questions that will develop your child’s reasoning and reading comprehension skills, such as, “Where was he going?” “Why do you think she did that?” “Who went with them?” “What do you think will happen next?”

Don’t know what to read?

Here are some popular how-to-homeschool books with suggested reading lists:

• The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling, by Debra Bell, hslda.org/Q318Ultimate
• Mary Pride’s Complete Guide to Getting Started in Homeschooling, hslda.org/Q318Complete
• 102 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum, by Cathy Duffy, hslda.org/Q318Picks
• The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise, hslda.org/Q318WellMind

Check out these homeschool catalogs with reading lists:

• Total Language Plus, a homeschool curriculum that teaches communication and critical thinking skills through literature, hslda.org/Q318TotalPlus
• Progeny Press, a catalog of homeschool-friendly study guides that walk students through popular and classic works of literature, hslda.org/Q318Progeny
• Sonlight, a comprehensive Christian homeschool curriculum, offering customizable programs for many different subjects, such as reading, hslda.org/Q318Sonlight

Compact Classics volumes (also known as The Great American Bathroom Books) have two-page plot synopses of classics to give you an idea of some you might select to read aloud. E.D. Hirsch’s Dictionary of Cultural Literacy includes a list of some of the cultural classics. And the time-honored Honey for a Child’s Heart and Books Children Love contain lots of suggestions for readaloud time.

Learning to read fluently can unlock your child’s love of learning, so we hope these tips will be beneficial as your child develops in reading fluency and comprehension. We know you want your child to succeed—you can do this, and HSLDA is here for you to help make it possible!

Endnotes

¹ Peha, Steve. “Reading: How Do Expressive Readers Read?—Expression Comprehension Strategies Fluency,” Welcome to Teaching That Makes Sense! Accessed April 30, 2018. https://www.ttms.org/say_about_a_book/how_do_expressive_readers_read.htm

² Trelease, Jim. Why Read Aloud to Children?, 2009. Accessed April 30, 2018.

RESOURCES

Faith Berens, HSLDA Special Needs Consultant and reading specialist, also recommends the following resources:

• Texts for Fluency Practice by Dr. Timothy Rasinski contains age-appropriate reading pieces for your child to practice reading aloud, hslda.org/Q318Reader
• Fluency Strategies and Assessments by Jerry L. Johns and Roberta L. Berglund gives practical tips and advice for helping fit reading fluency instruction into your schedule, hslda.org/Q318FluentStrat
• Want help evaluating your middle-schooler for reading fluency? Check out 3-Minute Reading Assessments: Word Recognition, Fluency & Comprehension by Dr. Timothy Rasinski and Nancy Padak, hslda.org/Q318TweenRead
• For even more resource lists and information from our consultants, visit hslda.org/Q318ReadResources .

Want more articles like this? Check out HSLDA’s Toddlers to Tweens website at hslda.org/toddlerstotweens . As an HSLDA member, you can ask our educational consultants Vicki Bentley or Stacey Wolking your questions about homeschooling preschoolers through 8th graders. Call 540-338-5600 or send a secure message at hslda.org/contact (login required).