Dad's Playbook: Coaching Children to Read

Be the Best Coach You Can Be!

Every minute you spend reading and talking with your child pays off. But dads can use some simple skills to help their kids be even better readers--like knowing what kinds of questions to ask when you're reading a story together.

Getting in the Game

Reading: Easy as ABC, right?

Most kids learn to talk by talking with other people. They hear--they listen--they speak. Learning to read? That's harder.

Reading doesn't come naturally. You have to learn it. The sticks and circles we call letters are symbols. Basically, letters stand for sounds. In the big picture, they help us communicate when we can't talk face to face. If we couldn't read, we'd never know the wisdom of William Shakespeare, Langston Hughes, or Yogi Berra.

Our alphabet has only 26 letters, but it's one of the most powerful tool kits on the planet. When you put letters together, into syllables, words, sentences, and paragraphs, you get the script for Star Wars, a Martin Luther King speech, The Grapes of Wrath, a letter, or instructions for how to build a tricycle.

Reading lets us into the whole world. It gets us in the game. Reading is power. And, let's face it, good readers make more money.

Teaching someone to read is complex. But while teachers are doing their thing in the classroom, parents can do things to make time with their children pay off in big ways.

Reading with your child every day certainly helps, whether it's a book, a street sign, or a cereal box. But researchers have found that parents can help even more by building five skills that kids need to become readers.

Third Grade: Why is it so important?

Educators have discovered that if a child can't read fluently by the end of third grade, he may not become a strong reader. And the road ahead will be much more difficult.

"In fourth grade, students start using their reading skills as a tool for learning other things," said Dr. Sandra Baxter, director of the National Institute for Literacy. "They have to read well because the subjects get harder. Teachers have less time to help kids catch up on reading skills they don't have."

That's why parents need to stay in constant touch with their children's day care providers and teachers from kindergarten through grade three. It's important to make sure that children's reading skills are developing "on schedule."

In fact, research has shown that children who aren't strong readers by the end of third grade are more likely to drop out of school later on. "We should all pay attention to that," said Dr. Baxter. "Fortunately, the research has also shown us the best ways to teach reading, and how parents can make a big difference in helping their children learn to read."

10 Dads

How they help their kids learn to read!

Yes, guys read. And they can give their kids the best shot at a bright future by helping them learn to read too. Here are stories of dads from around the country, talking in their own words about how they do it. Many of these dads discovered they were already doing a lot of the right things, and doing it in personal, special ways.

Jorge

Cable TV technician
Father of three, 2 years, 3 years, 5 years old

I have three children and I read to them in English so they can learn more. At the same time I read to them, I also am learning better English myself. My father is illiterate and I taught myself how to read. I want my children to know how to read for themselves. I read the newspaper in English, and for my work, it's all in English. I'm a cable TV manager technician and I teach others how to fix cable TV.

I buy books for my children at a bookstore in Tijuana. If there's a book sale, I'll buy books at a store. I have been coming to the library (family literacy program) for three months. I pay attention to my children. It's most important to know who they are and what they like and don't like.

We practice writing out letters and I teach them the sounds of the letters. I'll sound out the letter and have them practice writing it out, while sounding it out themselves.

To get their interest, I sing songs with them first, like the ABC song and other word songs and songs in Spanish to motivate them to read. I sing it wrong and they correct me. I go into detail and explanation of letters and sounds to my children. I also do homework and math games with them. They ask me questions and I help them. If I don't understand a word myself, I'll look it up in the dictionary.

Brian

Chemical operator
Father of two, 5 years, 12 years old

I want my son and daughter to be able to read and understand what they're reading instead of just going through and then later on ask questions. I want them to understand that in this day and age if you don't read and learn a lot of things, someone can be like a wolf in sheep's clothing. If you don't read the fine print and understand what's going on, then you're basically putting yourself in a hole.

I like reading to them and seeing how they are bent on your every last word, waiting to see what the outcome is. I like seeing their reactions. I love sitting down on Sundays. There's just something about Sundays. It's my time to sit around with the family.

I want them to be very articulate. There's a lot of different words in the dictionary that many people don't really know. It's about being able to comprehend--being able to see a word and if you don't understand it go in the dictionary and figure it out. I try to tell them the importance of speaking clearly and understanding how people perceive you when you speak. A lot of that has to do with reading. You can't extend your vocabulary if you don't read.