Can Your Child Build Words using Ending Clusters? It is a good idea to introduce words with ending clusters to kids around first or second grade, or when you believe that they are developmentally ready for this challenge. Examining ending clusters for a whole group of words is a big step towards fluency. This step should be approached with patience and care. Take a word, for example, like light. The ending cluster here is “ight”. Remove letter “l” and substitute letter “s” instead. Now you have word sight. Continue in this manner until your child begins to recognize and pronounce words on his own such as might, fight, fright and bright. Introduce other ending clusters to him and help him become familiar with manipulating words.

Is Your Child Familiar with Beginning Blends? Beginning blends are great ways for children to sound out words that are unfamiliar to them. Take beginning blend “ST” for instance. If a child understands how to pronounce words star and start, then unfamiliar words such as stand, stop, stamp and stall become easier to pronounce with practice. Over time children begin to decode words one at a time and can soon read a whole sentence. Encouraging your child to read a familiar text can also build fluency and comprehension. An excellent easy reader is “Dick and Jane” series. It allows children to sound out familiar three and four letter words in repetitive sentences thus giving them self-confidence they need to master difficult pronunciations.

Have You Encouraged Independent Reading? Visit your local library to see what programs are available that encourages reading. Usually children can join their library’s book club, gain school credit from reading a number of library books and sometimes win small prizes after attaining reading milestones. Encourage your child to search library bookshelves for books that are of interest to him and that are also appropriate for his age. On occasion encourage him to read aloud to you so that you can diagnose any difficulties in his phonic skills such as slow reading and poor comprehension. Oftentimes poor readers have a slow word per minute count and have difficulty decoding words, which may in turn lead to poor comprehension of text.

Do You Read Books? One very important way to develop fluency in kids is to read books yourself. When children see adults reading they understand firsthand benefits of improving their literacy skills. Discuss books that you have read together, expand on a particular lesson or theme seen in a book, and encourage your child to develop a love for reading.