This strategy is particularly useful for groups of children
(nice if you homeschool).
Buddy Skills: Partner a child who is
more verbal and better skilled with someone who is not. This partnership should encourage the child who needs that extra
push to come out of their shell as well as to improve their own skills. These skills are mostly related to reading,
but could work in other areas as well.
The following can be used with one child
or more than one.
Scaffolded Writing: This process helps children
understand that the words we use can be written with symbols. Skilled writers use letters, but for now, they can use
lines or scribles to represent sound parts (phonemes) and whole word sounds. You can draw lines on the paper according
to the length of each word and they can write down each sound they hear in each word.
Dialogic Reading: Read and reread the same
book to your child (about 8 times). Point to the words as you read. Ask them questions and allow them to ask you
questions just like you were having a regular dialogue or conversation. Each time you read the book their vocabulary
as well as comprehension will get better!
(E-mail for a more in depth discussion of how to implement each strategy.)
