As parents, we all know how important daily reading is for our child’s learning development. But do you ever find yourself lost as to how to help your kids practice their reading and writing skills? Author and public school teacher Heidi Cooley knows this tension and wants to not only help your kids with their reading skills, but also help them to know God more with her new Mighty Reader resources for both first and second grade, available now! Follow along during our Teacher Talk series for great tips from Heidi!

Hello parents! This week we are focusing on reading strategies. Practicing different reading strategies like the ones used in the Mighty Reader Workbook will help your child become a more confident reader. The strategies may seem repetitive at times, but this is actually the key to improving reading fluency. Fluency is the ability to read text smoothly, correctly, and automatically. With the Mighty Reader Workbook, your child will be able to read his/her favorite Bible stories and practice the reading strategies at the same time!   

Reading Strategies:

• Echo Read—A parent reads a portion of the text aloud and a child echoes the words read.
• Cloze Read—A parent reads a portion of the text aloud and pauses on certain words. The child follows along and reads the missing word when the parent pauses on a word.  
• Partner Read—A parent and child take turns reading aloud different portions of the text.  
• Choral Read—A parent and child read the text aloud at the same time.  
• Independent Read—A child reads aloud the text independently while the parent listens.  

Keep in mind that each of the strategies listed above are used with the same reading passage for six days. As the text is repeated and read in different ways, these strategies will help your child become more fluent and  build their confidence as a reader. The workbook includes 13 different reading passages and will be a great resource to use with your child during the summer to avoid the summer slump!

I pray your child will grow into a more confident reader, while being blessed by God’s Word!

Blessings,

Heidi Cooley

Looking for more from the Mighty Reader Workbooks? Don’t miss Heidi’s important tips on choosing the right book for you child and the importance of reading 20 minutes every day.