How do I help my Kindee pass the spelling test?

Ms. Dorothy,
My son is in Kindergarten and has started taking spelling tests.  I'm dumbfounded.  Is that normal now? And either way, do you have any suggestions for helping him memorize the spelling lists so he can pass the tests, it's kind of a big deal in his class.
- A Mom

Spelling lists and spelling tests are becoming much more acceptable practice in kindergarten.  

The fact that memorizing the spelling of words in lists for a test has very little transfer to writing in context at this young age doesn't seem to matter.  

Lists generated from the actual writing of Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade students can be helpful for learning to spell because they are words the child is approximating and needs help to straighten out.  

Lists generated or dictated by computer, curriculum, or published books of lists, are much less likely to support and transfer to a student's writing. And taking tests on these lists of words, regardless of how they are derived, will not support or increase accurate spelling in daily writing. Careful and explicit individual instruction on them in context will.

The trick to scoring well on a spelling test, is to drill the letter-by-letter spelling of the words orally and in writing, approximating the administration of the test as closely as possible, and giving a final practice as close to test time as possible.

The tricks to learning to spell words are to; find them in books, practice using them in written sentences - including writing with magnetic or other movable letters, discuss how the word is spelled and why it is or isn't spelled as it sounds, picture it before trying to write it, and look at it after writing to see if it looks like it does in books.

The one biggest support to learning to spell is reading. The more your child reads, the more words he recognizes in books, the more likely he will be able to spot his own errors and correct them.

To pass the test, make sure you drill him on the way to school on spelling test day.

How do I get my child to want to read?

Ms. Dorothy,
My daughter's teacher wants her to do more reading at home because she is below grade level in reading.  I've tried taking her to the library to find books at her level, but I can't seem to make her read them.  What else can I do?
- 3rd grade Mom

The library is a great start! 

Third grade is a pivotal time when reading focus changes from learning to read, to reading to learn. Right now is when making up lost ground can make the biggest difference in school success.

See if  you can find books about things she is interested in. Even if they are at a more challenging reading level than she can handle alone.

Try reading with her: it is amazing what a huge difference a little time spent with a book and someone you love can make in a child's attitude toward reading.  

You can read aloud to her and talk about books that are above her reading level, and you can support her reading a book by reading alongside her and helping her when she comes to sticky parts.  

When she finds something that interests her and is at her level, ask her to read aloud to you and talk about it with her.  Then try having her read on her own and come back and tell you about it.  

I've posted some other suggestions about making sure your children see you reading so they have a good role model at home, and there is some research that suggests having lots of books in the home makes a difference. 

Building toward independence by building up a desire to share reading is time well spent right now.

Where can I find Reader's Theater Scripts?

Ms. Dorothy,
I would like to do some Reader's Theater with my class.  They are a pretty dramatic bunch, but are struggling with reading fluency.  Where can I find some good scripts?
- Third Grade Teacher

The IRA (International Reading Association) & National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)'s  site Read, Write, Think is a great resource for information about Reader's Theater. They have a link for a website with free printable scripts as well.

Literacy Connections has more resources on the subject, and links to a lot of script sites.

You can also write your own scripts from familiar folk tales and stories, or make it a project for the students to write their own. Have Fun with it!

How do I help with boring homework?

Ms. Dorothy,
My son is a reader.  I don't know exactly how he taught himself to read, but he just started reading on his own when he was 3 years old.  His Kindergarten class is working on learning letters and sounds, and it is driving me crazy to see the "homework" he gets each week.  I feel like he is wasting his time in school because they are not challenging him at all.  He says he likes school, but he finds a lot of it just boring.  HELP! I don't want him to develop bad habits, or to be bored, but I don't know how to change what they are doing in his class either. 
-Mom of a 5 year old.

You and your son are right to be frustrated with a curriculum that doesn't meet his needs. However, it is going to be up to you to push for the changes that will make it work for him.

It is important that the teacher know what your son can do.  

Record him reading a book at home, and bring the book and the recording to his teacher. Ask for the teachers assessment of his approximate reading level, his greatest strengths as a reader and some possible next steps for his level.    

Talk to the teacher about the specific issues he is having with the homework, and ask if there is some alternative work he could be doing that would be more in line with his individual needs.

Ask about the routine of the day, and how the teacher sees him fitting in and working during the day.  Find out if there are problem spots in his day, and advocate for modified assignments that will help to keep him engaged in learning when the work is not what he needs.

You may want to observe the class - not to see his behavior, because that will certainly be different with  you in the room - but to see the routines of the day, and to see the other children.  Keep an eye out for others who may be bored with learning letters as they could be "mind mates" for  your son - encourage your son to partner with others who are close to his reading level.

It is the teacher's responsibility to differentiate instruction to meet the needs of students in the classroom, but not every teacher knows how to make that work in kindergarten.  
If you are not getting the changes you've requested, ask for a meeting with the teacher and the principal.

Never underestimate the value of being "ahead" of the class, or of getting to "help" others who are not at the same level, but be sure that your child is actively learning too.  

What tricks help readers with tracking?

Ms. Dorothy,
______ is struggling with his reading, especially when he is reading out loud.  He has a hard time keeping track of the line he is reading when he goes down to the next line.  I've tried using a book mark or a piece of paper under the line, but it almost seems to slow him down even more.  Are there other tricks that can help him?
- 3rd grade Mom

Reading is much less about translating a word at a time, and much more about making sense of phrases and sentences and ideas in chunks.  It may be that he is self-conscious about the accuracy of his word call when reading aloud, and questioning himself is what slows him down.

It is important that he be able to see the words in the lines following what he is reading because the information we gather by scanning ahead is more helpful for fluent reading than anything else. 

If you are going to cover lines to help him track, try covering the line above what he is reading rather than below.

Some people find reading black letters on white pages is difficult because there is too much dramatic contrast.  Try experimenting with pieces of colored cellophane to find a color that feels comfortable to his eyes.

My final suggestion would be to be sure he has a thorough eye exam to rule out any physical problems that may be interfering with his reading.

How do I motivate a "lazy" learner?

Ms. Dorothy,
My son is one of the most persistent people I've ever met - when he is doing something he wants to do.  Any time we try to teach him something that might be a little hard, he shuts down, gives up, walks away. I want my son to love learning, but it seems like every day is a struggle. Do you have any suggestions on how to motivate active, independent, hands-on, give-up-if-its-too-hard-at-first boys?
-Homeschool Mom

Persistence is the trait you want to build on.  You know that he can stick with something against all odds.  He needs to know that it is persistence that you value, and that he knows how to use.

Talking with him about how the brain learns; how, like a muscle, it becomes stronger with work, will help him to link his "smarts" with his persistence. 

The book Nurture Shock explains current research and is a great resource on the topic of praising brain processes to help children develop.

Setting specific learning outcomes will help too.  When he persisted in learning to walk, it was a long-term goal, somewhat out of his reach - a challenge.  If the small bite daily reading activities don't motivate him, it may be that he doesn't see the big target. 

Try enticing him with a motivating end goal.  Read, for example, the first book of the "Magic Treehouse" series to him, (about a mid-year-2nd grade-level book) and explain that when his brain is strong enough, he will be able to read the rest of the series himself. Then see if those daily activities will be more like small hurdles to get to a bigger prize, a prize that gets closer every time he works hard.

It is understandable that you want to make learning fun for him.  Maybe if he sees the fun in working toward a long-term goal he will learn to love learning - even things he isn't excited about.

How do I find books at the right level for my kids?

Ms. Dorothy,
What are some good books for 3-6 year old children? And what are some resources for finding good book lists for children at different ages?
-Parents of 2 Preschoolers

There are the classic children's book authors, like Eric Carle, Patricia Polacco, Tomie DePaola  and Jan Brett that you may already be familiar with.

There are also some great authors currently writing books for preschoolers with wonderful characters the kids will fall in love with. Each of them also has books that extend up a few years so your children can grow with their favorites.

Look for books by Todd Parr, Mo Willems, Doreen Cronin and Anna Dewdney.
But don't overlook the phonetic and sight word series available in the Scholastic book orders your children bring home from preschool, or the online programs available at sites like Starfall.

When it comes to finding lists of recommended reading by grade level, there is no better resource than your local library! Check out some great reads!

How do I support beginning reading?

Ms. Dorothy,
My daughter is beginning to read phonetically. Her pre-school has her practicing blending letter sounds to "sound out words" but she doesn't know any sight words yet. Should I be using flash cards at home to help her learn some sight words? Is there a better way to teach her to read without being completely dependent on sounding it out? Or should I just leave it alone for now and let her learn in Kindergarten?
- Mom of a 4 year old.

If your daughter is beginning to read and enjoying it, there is no reason not to support her.

Find out from her preschool teacher what next steps they are planning to follow to help her grow as a reader, and (unless you completely disagree with their approach) align what you are doing at home to what she is learning in school.

More than likely she will begin to encounter simple sight words in the books she is already "sounding out" which will be a natural opening. Then you can practice finding those same sight words in other places - magazines you are reading, recipes while you are cooking together, bedtime stories you are reading to her.

Sometimes, when you are reading beginner books with her, you will need to supply the words she doesn't know, but encouraging her to check the pictures, or what seems to make sense to decide what the next word might be are great ways to build vocabulary. Then her reading will be more than sounding out words and sight words because she will begin to recognize words in context.

As long as you are giving her an enjoyable experience that involves time with you and books, she will learn to love reading. Then all those different approaches to figuring out what a book says will become more natural to her.

How can I help my child with spelling?

Ms. Dorothy,
My fourth grader is not such a great speller. I try to help him practice his spelling, but at times he seems to not retain the memory of the word's correct spelling. Can you give me some ways to help him?
- Homework Mom

Spelling is a visual activity. You have to be able to see that a word is spelled wrong, and you have to be able to see the correct spelling. That is why when you ask someone, "How do you spell _____," they often have to write it down to know that it is correct.

The one best way to become a good speller is by reading. The more books you read, the larger the bank of correctly spelled words you will recognize, and the less likely you are to spell inaccurately. If your child is mostly reading his own writing, he is reinforcing a visual image of his own misspellings over and over again.

You can continue to practice spelling words with him, but if he is reciting these and not picturing the word or seeing the word written, he is less likely to retain it, recognize when he has written it wrong, or be able to correct his own errors.

Increase the amount and variety of his reading materials, and his spelling will begin to improve.

How do I get my boys to READ?

Ms. Dorothy,
When it is time to read, how do I get my boys to sit and read for the amount of time appropriate for their grade? I have sons from grade school to high school, and they all seem to have a hard time focusing on reading. I find they wiggle and make excuses to not sit and read.
- Homeworking Mom

The first most important thing about getting kids to read is helping them to find something that interests them. Remember that reading doesn't have to be about a novel either. Recipes are for reading, manuals, magazines, newspapers and even blogs can be great reading material.

One thing that a lot of busy parents overlook is the fact that children learn to value what they see their parents value. Telling them about how important reading is to you isn't quite enough. They need to see the adults in their life read, and your boys need to see that the men in their life make time to read.

So often we save reading as a treat to enjoy when the business of the day is done, and the kids are off to bed. Making reading a treat to share with your sons in the middle of a weekend day can go a long way toward inspiring them to read. Everyone grab their own reading materials, find yourselves in the same room and read, read, read.

How can I get my son to write more?

Ms Dorothy,
My son _________ has to write personal narratives every day in school, but he has a hard time coming up with topics to write about. I want to help stimulate his creativity and help him develop his skills as a writer. Where do you get good ideas for just getting him started?
- Mom of a 3rd grader

Writing about yourself, and your real life is important in elementary school because it helps children to develop the ability to write about things they really know well. They can add details from their own experience to stories about themselves.

I'm not convinced that turning this into writing a personal narrative every day is necessarily the best way to support developing writers.

If your son needs to write every day about his own life, perhaps having a collection of items that will remind and inspire him will help. Check my post about show and tell for a way to make that possible in the classroom.

Story writing that is more imaginative can be a lot of fun for 3rd graders too.

Keep a collection of words, pictures, or objects that represent things from stories he loves. Put them into different categories for characters, problems, settings, and events and let him mix and match to come up with the ideas for a new story.

The most important thing to remember is that the best writers are those who read a lot. So if you want your son to become a great writer, make sure he is reading whenever possible!

How can I teach my child to read in two languages?

Ms. Dorothy -
The greatest challenge I have revolves around raising and educating kids in a bilingual (French/English) setting. The biggest questions are: How do I go about teaching them how to read? One language at a time? If so, when can I introduce the second language? If I can teach my children to read in both languages at the same time, how do I go about it? What do I need to watch out for? How do I do it??
- Homeschool Teacher

Children usually learn one language as the household's primary language, and another as a secondary language. Some families, on the other hand, raise their children completely bilingually with no distinction between a primary and secondary language.

Learning to read should follow suit with the way your children are learning to speak.

If your children have one primary language, and they are learning a second, they should learn to read the primary language first. If they are truly bilingual, you can pick a preference for one to teach first, or follow suit with the local school districts' primary language as the one to teach first.

Once your children have control of a reading vocabulary of some simple common words in a first language, and can recognize the groups of letters that comprise various sounds in words, they will be able to read along with you in beginner books in that language.

Even if they can't read words accurately on their own yet, they will have enough of an understanding of how print works and how stories work to begin decoding and making meaning from text. At that point, introducing the second language in writing will be less confusing because they will have something to compare it with.

Certainly, do not refrain from reading to them in both languages, always! They should see and know that there are books in your home, and books available to them in either language.
The decision about exactly when to introduce reading in the second language, or how much overlap there can be, may be answered by your child's interest in books he knows are in French or English. Don't be afraid to follow your children's lead!

If you are comfortably literate in both languages, there is no reason to believe they will not learn to read and write as easily as they learned to speak both languages.

How do I model writing in Kindergarten?

Ms. Dorothy -
I am supposed to write in front of my students every day and model what I expect to see them trying to do. However, in Kindergarten most of my students are just learning the sounds that letters make, and usually write the first letter in each word. Do you think I should be writing with beginning letters, or writing complete words? I'm not comfortable spelling words wrong just for them to see how to sound them out, but I'm not sure if that is what I am supposed to do. What do you do?
- Kindergarten Teacher

This really is an important question when it comes to kindergarten students. They do need to see a demonstration of what they are capable of. They also need to see accurate writing so they can begin to recognize words and correct spelling.

Generally, what I do is write the way I expect to see them writing. "I w to go to the s w my f " and then I go back and fill in the missing letters. "I want to go to the store with my family." This way, what remains on my chart is something that they can read back and build their reading vocabulary.

Sometimes I have a student or two in the class who can read and write at a much more advanced level than the others. These children can get very distressed when I demonstrate inaccurate writing, but they are great at helping me fill in the missing letters.

The important thing to remember is that everyone knows you are the best writer, the best reader, and the best speller in the room. You should be, you've had more practice than anyone else! As long as you don't try to pretend that you don't know how the words are spelled, you can always demonstrate credibly what they should do.

How do I know if my child needs special help?

Ms. Dorothy -

I have a child that struggles from day to day with literacy. Some days he writes great big letters and fidgets, moving the book close and then far away from his face. Then other days he writes between the lines nearly perfectly and reads with ease. On the days he struggles, he retains nothing and always feels down about it. Have you any advice or insight as to what the problem may be? Does he need special help? What solutions would you suggest?

- Mom of a 3rd grader

What a challenge it must be for him to face days like that! Feeling down seems like a very appropriate response to that kind of struggle.

I wonder if there is anything else consistent about the days he cannot focus. Sometimes changes in routines can have an impact on the ability to concentrate. Being aware of his sleeping, eating and other daily routines might give you some insight into his difficulty retaining what he is supposed to be learning in school.

Any kind of dramatic change in his life, or reasons he may be depressed should be considered as well. Be sure to check with his teachers and have him monitored in case something is happening at school that is leading to his struggles.

Those concerns aside, it might be a good idea just to have his eyes checked. It is rare that a child makes it all the way to 3rd grade without a vision screening catching something, but it happens. I would recommend taking him to an eye doctor for a full eye exam.

It would be a shame to have him waste any more learning time in discouragement if what he needs is a pair of glasses!

How can I prepare my child for starting school?

Ms. Dorothy,

My daughter will not be able to enter kindergarten this year because of cut-off dates, and I can’t afford a preschool program to keep her learning until she can start school next year. What suggestions do you have for teaching her at home? She can count to at least 20, and knows all the letters and sounds, she is really ready to read & I just need to know what to do to keep her moving forward. Can you help?

- Mom of a 4 year old

She is so well prepared already for kindergarten! I commend you for wanting to continue working with her. There is no harm in having her ahead before she starts school.

One of the best things you could do for her would be to take her out and give her some cultural experiences. Going to an Art or Science museum would be so enriching, and many provide free days or sponsor cultural events in the community.

One of the best ways to get her to move into reading is by getting her started writing. Have her draw pictures and tell you the story . You can “publish” the stories as little books, and practice reading them with her.

Most of all, have fun! The concepts she learns through playing will be the foundations of all her later learning .

How can I help my child learn sight words?

Ms. Dorothy -

______ is starting to bring home sight words. What do I do? We picked three from the group of 10 (I, Like, The) and worked them into story-time. We made sentences and looked for them in the story. How are we doing?

-Dad of a Kindergartener

I think it's wonderful that you trusted yourself enough to just do it and get a second opinion afterward! Keep up the great work! You are right on the mark!

We have 25 sight words that Kinders are supposed to read by the end of the year. The first 10 are for the first semester.

Choosing three, and choosing ones that are visually very different (number of letters, beginning sounds, word shapes) are great ways to find a basis for comparison!

Looking for the words in books is exactly what I have the kids do in the classroom. When you are reading and you come to the word, stop and have him read it for you. That's great stuff! I have a safari hat and a fly swatter in my classroom, and I have the kids go on a word safari and search for the sight words. (It's fun for them to try to sneak up on the sentence strips to swat a word.)

Some parents and teachers make flash cards and practice drilling the words too. That won't guarantee transfer to actual books; and I think that it is recognizing the words in context that matters most for learning to read, not just learning discrete words.

Your instincts are perfect. You are a natural, and he is going to do wonderfully with your support at home!