Child

Help your child maintain proficiency

Last Updated Oct 5, 2008 06:19 AM

Help your child maintain proficiency in his own language so that he will enjoy the many advantages of knowing two languages.
C. Kindergarten Through Grade Three
As children progress from kindergarten through grade three, there are many things that can be done at home to reinforce and extend their language skills. Try some of the following activities with your child. You do not need special training or expensive materials. Just include these activities in the things you already do together every day. Make these activities part of the warm, positive relationship you are continuing to build with your child. If you have concerns about your child's development in reading and language development, talk to his teacher.

Kindergarten and Grade One
Talk often with your child to build listening and speaking skills.

Talk with your child often to build listening, speaking, and vocabulary skills—as you eat together, shop for groceries, walk to school, or wait for a bus.
Ask questions that will encourage her to talk, and not just give yes or no responses.
Have your child use his imagination to make up and tell you stories. Ask questions that will encourage him to expand the stories.
Listen to your child's questions patiently and answer them just as patiently.
Pay attention to how much television your child is watching. Limit TV time; set aside "no TV" time each day and use that time to talk or read together.
Tell stories about your childhood.
Show your child how books and print work.

Have your child point out such things as front and back covers of the book and the title as you read with him.
Have him show you where you should start reading on a page.
Help your child make connections between print and pictures as you read.
Focus your child's attention on the sounds of spoken language.

Sing or say nursery rhymes and songs.
Play word games (for example, "How many words can you say that rhyme with feet? With say?”).
Identify, when riding in the car, how many things you can see that start with a certain letter (for example, street, sign, sky, stripe, store).
Read a story or poem and ask your child to listen for words that begin with the same sound (such as /b/ in boy). Have her say the words. Then have her say another word that begins with that sound.
Stop and say a simple word as you read. Have your child say the sounds in the word, write the letters for the sounds, and then read what he wrote (for example, "The dog is big. Can you say the sounds in big? Now can you write the letters for the sounds? Good. Now read the word to me.").


Have your child identify and name the letters of the alphabet.

Point out letters and have your child name them.
Make an alphabet book with your child. Have him draw pictures or cut pictures from magazines or use old photos of persons, places, animals, toys, or other objects that begin with the various letters of the alphabet.
Support and reinforce what your child is learning in school about the relationship between letters and sounds.

Point out labels, boxes, newspapers, magazines, and signs that display words with letter-sound relationships.
Listen to your child read words and books from school. Be patient and listen as your child practices. Let your child know you are proud of what she is learning.
Play word games. On cards, write words that contain the letter-sound relationships he is learning at school. Take turns choosing a card and blending the sounds to make the word. Then use the word in a sentence.

Encourage your child to spell and write.

Encourage your child when he is writing to spell words by using what he knows about sounds and letters.
Encourage your child to write notes, e-mails, and letters to family members and friends.
Point out words that have similar spellings, such as hop and pop as you are reading with your child. Ask her to write similar words (for example, top, mop, and cop).
Encourage your child to write often (for example, letters and thank-you notes, simple stories, and grocery lists).
Help your child build vocabulary, knowledge of the world, and comprehension.

Pause occasionally as you read aloud to ask about the meaning of the book.
Help make connections between a child’s life and what's happening in the book. Explain new ideas and words to her.
Encourage your child to ask questions about the book. Ask him to tell in his own words what the book was about.



Second and Third Grade
Use reading opportunities to help your child develop fluency.

Listen to your child read books that she has brought home from school. Be patient as your child practices reading. Let her know that you are proud of her reading.
Ask children who are not very fluent readers (that is, they read slowly and make lots of mistakes) to reread a few sentences or a paragraph a few times, offer help when needed, and praise their successes.
Find opportunities for your child to spell and write.

Encourage your child to write often (for example, letters and thank-you notes to relatives and friends, simple stories, diary or family journal entries, e-mails, and items for the grocery list).
Help your child learn the correct spelling of words.
Find opportunities to help your child develop vocabulary, knowledge of the world, and comprehension.

Talk about new words that your child has read or heard. Ask him to make up sentences with the new words or use the words in other situations.
Help your child use the dictionary or thesaurus to check on the meanings of new words she reads or hears.
Help your child become aware of prefixes, suffixes, and root words. Point them out in books you are reading together or in print materials around the house. Ask him to think of other words related to the words you are discussing. (For example, "Can you think of any other words that have the word move in them?” Some possible answers are moveable, movement, moving, and moved.)
Show your child how to use context—the sentences, words, and pictures around an unfamiliar word—to figure out the word’s meaning.
Stop occasionally as you read a book with your child to talk to her about the meaning of the book. Help her relate the experiences or events in the book to experiences or events in her life or to other books you have read together.
Encourage your child to ask questions. Ask her to tell in her own words what the book was about. If you see a movie or TV show together, talk about it afterward.

See also Child 598 1 - 8