Has your child's teachers told you that your child is part of RTI? Or Response to Intervention? Are you being told your child doesn't read FAST ENOUGH? Are you practicing speed reading with your child because the school says you need to?
You are not alone! Across America there is an over emphasis on how many words kids can read in one minute. Most parents want to know how well their child reads. That means what level can he read, does she have good comprehension and understand what she reads? Has he found his reason to read? Those are the really important questions.
I've been teaching kids to read for the past 17 years. And my experience has been that kids learn to read very slowly at first. Think of the first time you learned to drive. You had to focus on how hard to push the accelerator, where to hold your hands on the steering wheel, pay attention to where the other cars are, time your brakes to slow the car appropriately and hopefully stop before the light turns red. It's a lot to think about and you did not do it quickly.
It's the same for new readers. They have to know where to start reading, which way to go, some words need to be sounded out, some need to be predicted and checked to see it they are correct. The picture needs to be looked at and what I already know about the story needs to be referenced. It's a lot to think about all at once and it does not happen quickly.
What would have happened if someone said to you while you were learning to drive, "OK, the most important thing is to drive as fast as possible so, now you can never let up on the accelerator until I tell you to stop. " Hello! What a catastrophe. And so it is for our young readers. They begin to do awful things like skipping words they know, adding words that are not there, guessing at a word but not taking time to see it they are right, ignoring punctuation, neglecting to use any expressing and worst of all, missing the whole point of reading....to enjoy it!
Our kids are getting the wrong idea about why grown-ups read. I do not know a single grown up that reads a book, article or blog just to see how fast they can get done. We read because we want to learn, want an adventure, want to build or create, for pleasure....for a purpose.
I'm here to help parents everywhere, from Alaska to Texas to Florida and beyond bring literacy to their kids. The way it's suppose to be...without tears. So ask me questions, send me your concerns, share your successes. Join me in changing the way kids learn to read.
