The question I got most often at Parent/Teacher conferences was how you as parents/guardians/concerned adults can academically support the students in our class.
As a Montessorian, my first answer is to say to make sure that your student is getting a lot of hands-on play and exploration time. It might seem counter-productive that one of the best ways to make academic progress is not doing something academic, but nothing compares to having real experiences and social interactions with family and friends and nature. It strengthens connections in the brain, helps improve executive function and generally leads to healthier, happier kids… who are likely to learn more!
My second answer is to read. There are many ways to do this: sight word and spelling practice, having your student use the online Imagine Learning reading program (let me know if you need their login information again!), reading out loud to your student, having your student listen to audiobooks and more, but the most effective way is to read with them.
In class, we do a special kind of reading called Dyad reading. This is something the students do after lunch for 15 minutes. It is a special kind of buddy reading based on students’ Lexile level and it is the reason that I asked so many of you to help put grade level labels on our books before Christmas. I listed the students from highest to lowest and split the list in half and match the students up. One partner is the “higher reader” and the other is the “developing reader.” The higher reader tracks the words by moving their finger either above or below where they are reading and the buddies read aloud together. The developing reader hears their buddy read the word, sees the word and says the word, trying to keep up with the higher reader. This effectively pulls them into reading more difficult books fluently. The University of Utah has seen positive research with this reading method and data shows this kind of buddy reading can help significantly help raise reading scores.
Dyad reading is something you as parents can do with your child. You want to pick books that are slightly too difficult for your child so that they have to listen to you as they read along. You sit next to each other reading the book out loud at the same time and you as the adult are in charge of moving your finger under or over the words and reading at a good pace that isn’t too fast or slow for your child. This can be a great way to spend time with your student and also support their growing literacy. If you are interested in doing this at home and have any questions, please be in touch! For more information, please take a moment to look at this: DYAD READING.