When you have a child that is just beginning to read, you may wonder what strategies to implement to speed or urge the process along. Just remember that a child will read when he or she is ready to read, and not before. Pushing too hard and too early will only frustrate you both. But if your child is ready, here are some strategies you can use to make learning to read more fun and more successful.

Explore Books

Allow your child to explore different genres of books. Help him or her find meaning in the different types. You can talk about the moral of the story, the theme of the book and the details in the book with your child to get a better idea of how much your child is actually comprehending. A two year old might understand, "That is a chicken." A five year old needs to understand a bit more - what’s the chicken up to? Why? How’s he doing it? You can help your child comprehend books by having these types of discussions with her.

Use Context Clues

Teach your child how to use context clues to discover the meaning of new words. Show him that by reading other words in the sentences around the unfamiliar word, a new word can sometimes be figured out like a puzzle. First sound out the word, letter by letter. Then read the sentence in which the unfamiliar word resides. If the word can’t be figured out from that sentence, check the sentences surrounding it. You can also look at illustrations for clues as to what the meaning might be. Don’t be too quick to explain it all. Give your child a chance to figure it out for himself.

Make Predictions

Practice Predicting - Show your child how to predict what might happen in the story based on the pictures and title. Ask questions such as: What is happening in this picture? Where is it happening? What do you think might happen next? What do you think the story will be about based on this title? Try to avoid asking yes or no type questions. Your child will be more engaged in the process if there is some higher level questioning happening. Once predicting gets to be pretty easy, you can move on to cause and effect.

Model

Model good reading by reading aloud to your child with expression. If you emphasize words, heighten and lower your voice, and use a tone that creates drama and interest, your students will listen more carefully. A side benefit is that they will begin emulating you by reading with expression as well.

Retell

After you finish a story or book, ask your child to retell it to you. Don’t make it like a quiz, though. Make it more like a game. You could retell the story to another adult in the house, to a doll, or to the dog! Or you could pretend you don’t remember what happened in the story and ask your child to remind you. Retelling a story is a giant step in gaining comprehension.

Discuss

Try having a discussion about the book. Can your child talk about it with you intelligently? Does she remember what happened or does she have to ask you to remind her? Say things like, "This book makes me wonder..." or "Does this remind you of the time when..." Again, there’s no need to quiz your child. Be informal about it, but encouraging.

Read Aloud Together

Take turns reading. Children love to read the same book over and over again. You can read it once, then she can take a turn, or you can take turns with the pages. Rereading is a great way for your child to get comfortable with sight words, and it also aids in the process of learning to read with expression. It is perfectly fine if your child has the book memorized and isn’t even looking at the words anymore. That just means she really loves that book! Folks, that is definitely a good thing. Enjoyment of reading one book will lead to enjoyment of reading others.

Independent Reading

Does your child read for fun? Ever? Try to notice how often your child chooses to read. Make sure there are plenty of books available around the house. And turn off the TV! You can model good reading behavior by choosing to read to yourself. Snuggle together on the couch - you with your book, her with her book. It’s a win-win situation.

Look for Information

If your child gets interested in a hobby, sport, craft, or anything new, go to the library! You can certainly find books on the subject, whatever it is, and you can show your child how to read to gain information about it. This lays the groundwork for future study and research skills that your child will need.

Fiction vs. Nonfiction

Can your child tell the difference between fiction and nonfiction? If not, it’s time to talk about thinks like "make-believe" and "true story." I’m all for believing in Santa, but if your child thinks the Three Little Pigs is a true story, you’ve got some explaining to do.

Main Idea

Look for the main idea in the book or story you are reading. Help your child determine what the main idea might be. Ask questions such as, "What was the point of that book?" or "What was that book really about?" to help her figure it out. If your child just gives you details, it’s fine to explain that yes, that’s a supporting detail, but not the main idea.

Learn New Words

Try using a child’s dictionary to look up words. If you have a very young child, a regular dictionary might be too intimidating with all it’s small writing and millions of words. But a child’s dictionary is often colorful with illustrations, big writing, and words that make sense to him.

Keep in mind that the goal isn’t to read perfectly every time. The goal is to enjoy reading, find meaning in it, learn from it, have fun with it. You don’t need your five year old to be able to read Harry Potter quite yet. Stay with books on his level, and he’ll get there eventually.