Ever wonder how to help your child become a more confident reader, especially when reading out loud? Look no further than building their fluency! It’s the first step for any child in understanding more complex texts.

So, how do we build fluency? By using our fingers! That’s right, pointing to the text isn’t just for us older people who need reading glasses. Pointing and using fingers as guides while reading can help a child first hone in on recognizing different words, and then, move on to developing their pace.

Pointing – Having your child use their finger to point to each word in the text as they read will help them to recognize words they may be unfamiliar with. It will also help them to try not to eliminate or add words to a text that aren’t there.

Scooping – Once your child has mastered the words in each sentence, figuring out how to pronounce them and confirming the words on the page, they can move onto scooping. This means that you will have them take a closer look at structure. You can ask them what words are in the subject, which words are the verbs, and which words represent the object. Then they can, using markers, scoop each aspect of the sentence together, so they can lead themselves into a fluid reading rhythm.

Try out these new strategies tonight as you pick up a new bedtime story for your child. You’ll see some super magical results!