Reading at home, by grade
One page. Fifteen minutes a night.
| Grade | What to do | What to avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | Read aloud daily; talk about the pictures and new words; play rhyming and "what sound does it start with?" games | Flash-card drilling of whole words |
| K–1 | Your child reads a short decodable book from school to you; you read a longer book to them. When stuck: "Look at the letters. Sound it out." | "Guess from the picture" or "What would make sense?" |
| 2–3 | They read aloud to you for 10 minutes; you read harder books about real topics (animals, space, history) to them | Only easy fiction; never reading about real-world topics |
| 4–5 | Nonfiction series on one topic for weeks at a time; ask "What did you learn?" at dinner | Reading logs that count minutes but ask nothing about content |
| 6+ | Talk about what they're studying in history and science; leave interesting books around | Treating reading as only an English class job |
Why: decoding is learned through direct teaching of sounds and letters (principle 9), and understanding grows with what children know about the world (principle 10).
Questions to ask your child's school
Polite, specific, and hard to dodge.
| Ask | A strong answer sounds like |
|---|---|
| "How do you teach children to read words in K–2?" | "A phonics program in a set order, every day, with books that match." |
| "What does my child do when they get stuck on a word?" | "Sound it out," not "look at the picture." |
| "What topics will my child learn about in reading this year?" | Named topics in science and history, not only skills like "main idea." |
| "When are multiplication facts expected to be automatic?" | A clear grade and a plan for daily practice. |
| "How do you know if my child is falling behind, and what happens then?" | Screening three times a year and small-group help during the school day. |
| "How often does my child review old material?" | Daily warm-ups or quizzes that reach back weeks and months. |
If the answers are vague, share the principle library page for that question.
Listening path
Parents
Practical, myth-busting, hopeful.