Improving Independent Reading Skills

As children move toward becoming independent readers, they listen to stories, learn about letters and sounds, identify rhymes, practice decoding unknown words and focus on comprehension. These are all important steps. The expectation is that with these building blocks, the students have enough material to successfully construct their ability to read independently. However, even when children seem to grasp the individual pieces, there are often still issues with reading. This can occur because they need more guidance putting all the pieces together and they might still be missing some key components.

Visual skills are a vital piece to reading success. The eyes’ ability to work together to move smoothly across a page of text is something that many of us take for granted. It is a skill our eyes have developed over many years of practice. When many students first begin reading, their eyes have not yet reached the level of coordination and tracking necessary to be successful readers. Their eyes will often make regressions. These are quick jumps back and then forward. When they happen, the eyes often do not land in the same place they left off. Sometimes the eyes will even jump up or down a line as they try to return to “their spot” in the text. You can imagine how hard it must be to construct meaning from a text when you are constantly trying to locate “your spot”.

Perceptual skills are another category of tools not often practiced enough. This includes immediate word recognition and strong visual memory. The inability to recognize high frequency words and common vocabulary makes reading a chore. Children who struggle with this have to stop at each word to sound it out or guess it within the context. This causes the text to be chopped up so finely that it proves almost impossible to recreate meaning from the many pieces.

Reading fluency pulls all of these skills together to allow the reader to read quickly, accurately and with expression. When a reader can do this he can focus on the big picture meaning instead of the individual letters and sounds. This opens up a world of deeper understanding to him. He can make connections between the text and: his own life, other texts or goings on in the world around him. It allows him to jump into the poem or story and create mental pictures and movies. It permits him to see the power of the written word to motivate, persuade, entertain, and teach.

Helping your child achieve competency as an independent reader is fundamental for your son/daughter to feel successful in school. If he/she is struggling, take action now. It is truly a “gift that keeps on giving.”