First Grader: Listening Milestones

Encouraging Your First Grader

• Read aloud books that are more difficult than your child can read. As a beginning reader, your child is only reading very simple text, so read-aloud time is the time to challenge him with new vocabulary and ideas. First graders enjoy both picture books with complex themes and ideas, such as Baseball Saved Us, and simpler chapter books, such as My Father's Dragon. Some books are too difficult or contain material that is difficult for first graders to understand, however, so choose carefully. 

• Discuss the book before, during, and after you read to develop reading comprehension. Before reading, talk with your child about the title and the front cover. See if she can guess what the book is going to be about. While you are reading, ask your child to make predictions about what will happen next. Encourage her to ask questions about words or story events. You might even think aloud, saying, "I wonder why Ramona didn't want to go to school." When you verbalize your thoughts, you encourage your child to think about meaning as well. When you are done reading, ask your child what her favorite part was or why a character felt the way he did. 

• Read many different kinds of books to your child. Reading a wide variety of books aloud to your child will help expose her to many different vocabulary words and ideas. In addition, your child will learn different writing styles and ways of presenting information. As your child gains skill in writing, this will also help her be able to use different styles. When you read a variety of genres, including realistic fiction, information, poetry, fantasy, and biography, talk specifically about the special features of each one. For instance, point out captions under pictures in informational text and explain their purpose. You might also try reading several books by the same author and comparing and contrasting the styles across books. Or read a book and then watch a video and discuss similarities and differences.

Copyright 2002-2007 Public Broadcasting Service. Reprinted from www.pbsparents.org with persmission of the Public Broadcasting Service.

For other reading and language articles, please see http://www.pbs.org/parents/readinglanguage/