How To Encourage A New Reader To Strengthen Their Skills

How can I encourage a new reader to strengthen her skills?

The best thing for new readers is practice. They need to read a lot. One of the things that is really hard with new readers is that the easy books are really not very interesting, and the harder books are too hard. Keep reading to your child when they're a new reader. Don't stop reading the fun, interesting books to your child just because she's reading on her own. That's one way to zap them of their motivation to read. Read books together, go to the library together, choose new books together, go to the bookstore together. It's just practice, it's just reading a lot and doing it together, through guided reading. You read with them, and you help them track and blend words together when they need some help. Tracking is staying on the line that they are reading. You will notice that when little kids read they often skip around. When kids get older, teachers often complain when kids use their fingers to track because it does slow you down. When you become older and you become a good reader you track entirely with your eyes, but little kids often have trouble doing it. I actually never have a problem with having new readers use their finger or an index card to keep their place.