REQUIRED READING

During National Reading Month, many parents will be reminded of just how important reading and comprehension skills are to their child’s future academic success.

The reality is all higher learning requires a solid foundation of reading skills in order for your child to achieve higher levels of fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

While students who read well demonstrate higher levels of academic performance compared to those who don’t, how will you be able to assess when your child’s reading skills are insufficient to succeed?

“Third grade is an important checkpoint of a young reader’s life,” explains Michelle Scott, Owner/Director of Tutoring Club of McLean. “It’s at this point a student should transition from learning to read to reading to learn.”

When this reading transition occurs, students can begin extracting new information from literature without assistance from teachers or parents. But if students aren’t able to make a successful transition, they can be left behind.

Building Blocks
Beginning with the first flash card, students spend most of their initial school years focusing on the building blocks of phonics. Whether learning consonant letters and sounds, long vowels, or basic sight words, the first experience with reading can be rewarding for both children and their parents.

Beyond Basics
Between kindergarten and second grade, students should be able to read text aloud at their grade level with appropriate intonation and expression, understand the meaning of simple prefixes and suffixes, and recognize common abbreviations.

A firm foundation for reading is critical to building a richer vocabulary and developing reading fluency. Skilled readers are able to process entire sentences in the time it may take young readers to sound out one word.

As students move beyond basics, they should continue to hone the fundamentals of reading. As they become more proficient readers, they’re able to move through text more quickly and effortlessly.

Comprehending Content
Between third grade and fifth grade, students should be able to comprehend and explain the figurative and metaphorical use of words, analyze text organized in sequential or chronological order, identify main conflicts in a plot, and understand the concept of themes.

Reading to learn is a skill that many may take for granted. Not every student is able to master reading skills and make a successful transition to reading comprehension. If your child never moves past the basics, comprehending information from text can be slow and difficult, if not impossible.

“When you feel your child is having difficulty with reading comprehension, contact Tutoring Club for a Free Consultation,” advises Scott. “Our individualized reading programs are guaranteed to target the exact areas where your child is struggling and restore reading skills to grade level or above in less time and at a lower cost than any other program.”

Ask about TC Reading programs at Tutoring Club that are specifically designed for students who are struggling with comprehension difficulties. TC Reading is guaranteed to strengthen vocabulary, comprehension, reading rate, and recall. At Tutoring Club, every child will gain confidence in learning to read and reading to learn.

Michelle Scott
Owner/Director
Tutoring Club of McLean
703.237.TUTOR (8886)
Email:McLeanVA@tutoringclub.com