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how to support your child through difficult texts

home / read-aloud learning / how to support your child through difficult texts
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Okay, so youโ€™re all into reading aloud with your kids, right?

Youโ€™ve got a great bunch of books to read, but your child insists on reading one thatโ€™s a notch (or two or three!) above her reading level?

It happens more often than not, so donโ€™t be alarmed.

help your child through difficult texts  teachmama.com

If your childโ€™s friends are all reading Harry Potter and sheโ€™s still at the Cam Jansen or Amelia Bedilia stage? Sheโ€™s going to want to read what her buddies are reading.

And thatโ€™s okay. Thereโ€™s nothing wrong with striving high and reaching far.

But it means that sheโ€™ll need a bit more support than she wants to admit.

So if your child wants to work through a difficult text, you need to establish some SOSS rules.

SOSS stands for:ย 

  1. State the facts
  2. offer an Opt out
  3. create a Signal
  4. Shake on it

You need to be clear about the reading situation so that the child doesnโ€™t reach a frustration level early on; or, if she does become frustrated, you need a plan.

Because friends, most likely at some point sheโ€™ll be frustrated through the text if itโ€™s not at her working, instructional level.

Hereโ€™s the thing to always, always remember: reading aloud, at home with parents, should be easy and fun. It should be low-stress and enjoyable. Bottom line.

Reading. Should. Be. Fun.

There are some ways to work through a difficult text together if you, as the parent, arenโ€™t going to do the reading yourselfโ€”if your child wants to do the reading.

Hereโ€™s the skinny. .ย  .

How To Support Your Child Through Difficult Texts

1.ย  state the facts

Say, Okay, this is a little more difficult text than weโ€™re used to, so that means a few things: 1. It means weโ€™re going to run into words we donโ€™t know how to pronounce or words we donโ€™t know. 2. It also means that we may run into ideas we donโ€™t understand.

2. offer an opt out

Say something along these lines:

Knowing that this is a tougher text, you now have a choice: do you want to find a new book, one thatโ€™s less challenging, or do you want to work together through this one? You decide.

3. make a signal

If the decision is to drop the book and find another, find another best fit book.

If the decision is to stick with it, say something like:

Cool. Weโ€™re sticking with this book, so we need an SOS signal to use whenever we hit a word we donโ€™t know how to pronounce or know the meaning. The SOS signal can be a snap, a clap, a raised arm, a whistle, a hoot, a holler, a whisper, a โ€˜Help!โ€™, a shimmy shakeโ€”anything.

It just has to be easy to do, and you have to be comfortable doing it whenever you need a hand.

Once the signal is decided upon, make sure that the signal is used and that you follow up with:ย Do you want the word or want me to take over the reading? Either way works for me!

4. shake or slap on it

Like any big business transaction, to seal the deal, you need to shake on it.

But in this case, you can slap five, too. Either way works.

Just make it clear that everyone understands how to proceed. That way, there will be no hard feelings, no upset, and (hopefully) no frustration.

 

Friends, itโ€™s just about letting kids know that as parents, weโ€™re here to help them. And that itโ€™s okay to ask for help.

And that weโ€™re not judging them or grading them while they readโ€”weโ€™re supporting them.

Cheers, and happy reading during this incredibly exciting journey!

A few more literacy-related posts worth reading. . . (click on image to read!)

what to say when kids make reading mistakes teachmama.com.png
5 things to never say to emerging reader
literacy terms every parent must know
talk to kids about books
how to help kids choose just right books
Want a little more help with all things literacy? ย 
Follow amy mascott @teachmama’s board literacy on Pinterest.

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About amy mascott

teacher, mother, dreamer. lover of literacy, fun learning, good food, and three crazy-cool kids. finder of four-leaf clovers | dc metro ยท http://about.me/amymascott
tweet with me: @teachmama

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