But reading aloud can continue to be fun and will build reading skills, too.

When you read aloud with your child, choose books that are a bit harder than she could read on her own. Leave a little time at the end for your child to read to you. Then gradually increase the amount of time she reads aloud.

When your child reads to you, follow these tips:

• Let her choose the books she wants to read to you. You’ll both have more fun if she’s reading something she likes.

• Listen to see if she understands what she’s reading. Clues will come in the tone of her voice. Does it rise for a question?

• Make sure the books she reads are easy and fun. Her read-aloud time, like yours, should be mostly for fun. If she reads books at her reading level, she will become more fluent—a skill she needs.

• Ask questions once in a while. These questions should help her think about what she’s reading, and they don’t have to have a right answer. Say “Why do you think he did that?”

• Don’t help her too much. If she can’t say a word, have her read to the end of the sentence. Can she figure out the word then? If not, tell her the word and let her move on.
  

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