Helping a poor reader gain confidence

'Read' the text: Let the child read the story while listening to the tape - this is the first step to reading.

Prepare the book together: You prepare the print and they do the illustrations (pictures are a very important cue in reading). Decide on the cover together. You can even use photos or magazine pictures (instead of illustrations) and write about what's happening in them.

At this stage you can introduce conventions like:

• Putting the author's (your child's) name and title on the front cover.
• Introducing the title page - it also has the title and author's name on it - great reinforcement.
• Back cover with a publishing stamp on it - make your own!!

Let the child read the story along with the tape: Gradually phase the tape out as confidence builds. Praise every small achievement. You may like to focus on specific words or sentences. eg you can ask questions like "which word is ...", or "can you find the word....". The words that are easiest to focus on are often the "interest" words eg football, baseball etc, because the child finds them interesting.

Keep making books together: And keep reading the ones you have made. Make building confidence your first priority - as it is often half the battle of teaching a child to read.

Some of the ideas in this article has been sourced from the book "Parents, Teachers, Partners" by Barry Dwyer.