Set aside a regular time each day to share a book.
	Read to your child with expression and pleasure.
	Do not insist they read aloud unless they are willing.  This should be a time of togetherness and warmth, not a time of teaching or testing.
	Choose some favorite poems to read aloud.  Have your child read the poems and acquire fluency. Repeated reading can be fun and very helpful if the poems are humorous.  Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky are two well-loved poets.
	Recognize that reading is still a difficult and tiring task.  Be supportive and patient, appreciating the effort that it requires.
	As you read to your child, stop periodically and talk about the pictures in your imagination.  Ask your child about their mental images.  Some children need more help turning words into mental pictures.
	Keep the Faith.  Children have individual time-tables as they learn to be fluent readers.  They cannot fast-forward that development schedule anymore then they can grow to a desired height.  All children do learn to read.  Hold on to that belief and pass it along to your child.  They are even more anxious that you are to be a star reader.

This page was crested; Barb Anderson Web Developer. 12/14/00
If you have questions or comments please email me at baa2233@san.rr.com