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Epi 177 More Than Words: Growing Readers for Life · The Parenting Podcast

• 0:06
  Cheryl New: Some kids fall in love with reading right away.
• 0:10
  Cheryl New: Others take the long way there.
• 0:14
  Cheryl New: But no matter where your child is on the journey, what happens at home makes a difference.
• 0:22
  Cheryl New: I'm Cheryl Lang and today on The Parenting Podcast, I'm joined by reading Tutor Leslie Whittington to talk about how parents can grow readers for life.
• 0:34
  Cheryl New: We're not just talking about phonics or homework, we're talking about the little things like rhymes, conversations.
• 0:42
  Cheryl New: And page turning moments that, especially in this digital age, help kids see reading as something they want to do.
• 1:00
  Cheryl New: Listeners, we're back here with Leslie Whittington again, who is a reading and math tutor, Welcome back.
• 1:07
  Cheryl New: Thank you.
• 1:08
  Cheryl New: Leslie, last time you were here we talked about reading in general and seeking help and de-stigmatizing struggles, trends that you saw.
• 1:18
  Cheryl New: Yes.
• 1:19
  Cheryl New: Alright, so I have a lot of specific questions both of us do that we'd like to ask you that parents might want to know.
• 1:26
  Cheryl New: Absolutely.
• 1:27
  Cheryl New: Um, red flags or what does this mean?
• 1:30
  Cheryl New: Should I be concerned if I see this?
• 1:32
  Christie: Absolutely.
• 1:33
  Cheryl New: One of the terms, print rich environment mm-hmm.
• 1:36
  Cheryl New: Is a, a term that i heard said, really helps towards reading.
• 1:40
  Cheryl New: And I am a big advocate.
• 1:42
  Cheryl New: I love to read myself and reading was a huge part of our education mm-hmm.
• 1:49
  Cheryl New: And our home environment.
• 1:50
  Cheryl New: Right.
• 1:51
  Cheryl New: Were we putting too much, uh, trust in that or Do you agree with me that reading to your children books, audio?
• 1:59
  Cheryl New: Yes.
• 2:00
  Cheryl New: A Print, Rich Environment, are extremely important?
• 2:04
  Cheryl New: yes.
• 2:04
  leslie ai: Yeah.
• 2:04
  leslie ai: No, I, I don't think you have over emphasized.
• 2:08
  leslie ai: a print rich environment is where they're seeing words.
• 2:11
  leslie ai: Um, their eyes are on the text or they're hearing stories, when we say print rich, they're seeing the text, but they're also hearing it.
• 2:19
  Christie: Language in general.
• 2:20
  Leslie: Language in general, yeah.
• 2:22
  Leslie: Because it's literacy rich, I think is what you can kind of Oh, that's good.
• 2:26
  Leslie: Encompass it.
• 2:26
  Leslie: Language rich.
• 2:26
  Leslie: Yeah.
• 2:27
  Leslie: Language rich.
• 2:27
  Leslie: Mm-hmm.
• 2:27
  Leslie: Um, because you know, you have the whole debate now.
• 2:31
  Leslie: Oh, well, do I read because I just listened to Audible?
• 2:33
  Leslie: Yes.
• 2:33
  Leslie: You're still reading, you're still reading stories.
• 2:35
  Leslie: Of course.
• 2:35
  Leslie: Mm-hmm.
• 2:36
  Cheryl New: My children are readers,
• 2:37
  Leslie: yes.
• 2:38
  Cheryl New: But they do a lot of audio books.
• 2:40
  Cheryl New: And so then we have the argument, the text war.
• 2:43
  Cheryl New: Do they, are you really reading?
• 2:44
  Leslie: Yes.
• 2:44
  Cheryl New: Oh, wait, did you read it did you just listen to it
• 2:46
  Christie: me and my family said, you get half credit.
• 2:49
  Cheryl: ha ha
• 2:50
  leslie ai: I do think that's important that they hear, but print rich means that, that you have language, um, in your house all over, like you're talking to each other, you're reading books to each other, to yourself, you're reading to your children, you have stories, you're reading maybe something to your spouse and, and that's, that's a lot for some people.
• 3:11
  Cheryl New: I love The phrase language rich.
• 3:12
  Cheryl New: Language rich, because that's what we want yes.
• 3:14
  Cheryl New: And you know, again, I'm looking right here.
• 3:16
  Cheryl New: Our phones are sitting here on the table let's talk some more about what these devices are doing.
• 3:22
  Cheryl New: and The language rich environment.
• 3:24
  Leslie: But I also wanna include when we're talking about language rich Yeah.
• 3:27
  Leslie: Lists, um, sometimes we just take notes on our phone, but I think maybe, in this age, um, we're having to be more intentional about writing things down and letting kids see their writing.
• 3:40
  Leslie: Mm-hmm.
• 3:40
  Leslie: That's good.
• 3:41
  Leslie: And, um, and, and maybe handing them the phone at times and saying, okay, write this word, you know?
• 3:45
  Leslie: Mm-hmm.
• 3:46
  Leslie: I don't know.
• 3:46
  Leslie: I, I don't know how that looks different.
• 3:48
  Leslie: And that's part of the.
• 3:49
  Leslie: Struggle is our world is different.
• 3:52
  Leslie: And so we're having to teach in different ways at times.
• 3:54
  Leslie: That's true and measure in different ways at times.
• 3:56
  Leslie: Um, but yet these skills are still important., So you're saying
• 4:00
  Christie: even us as adults, because I'm thinking mm-hmm.
• 4:03
  Christie: I learned on an analog clock in the eighties.
• 4:05
  Christie: I learned how to write in cursive.
• 4:07
  Christie: But in our daily lives, we're not practicing these habits anymore or as often.
• 4:12
  Christie: As often.
• 4:13
  Christie: And so we do need to be more intentional to provide that for our children.
• 4:16
  Leslie: yeah.
• 4:17
  Christie: And so, start.
• 4:18
  Christie: Just
• 4:18
  Cheryl New: giving that, we kind of talked last time, let's go through the ages, first what are things that parents can do below kindergarten that would, strengthen reading awareness, reading preparation, uh, for language richness
• 4:35
  leslie ai: Yes.
• 4:35
  leslie ai: So, um, songs and rhymes.
• 4:38
  leslie ai: I, uh, there's a lot to be said.
• 4:41
  leslie ai: So there's, you'll hear a lot of terms, phonics, phonemic awareness, all that kind of thing.
• 4:45
  leslie ai: Um, basically what it's saying is, can children understand that words come from sounds and sound, uhhuh sounds come from letters and that kind of thing.
• 4:53
  leslie ai: So I think rhymes are a huge thing, um, that a lot of kids.
• 4:57
  leslie ai: That I come across today aren't hearing, um.
• 5:00
  leslie ai: Mm-hmm.
• 5:01
  leslie ai: You know, and, and those things are out there.
• 5:03
  leslie ai: They've been around for a long time, but just hearing rhymes, playing with language, silly songs.
• 5:09
  leslie ai: Our kids, so you're talking Dr.
• 5:11
  leslie ai: Seuss nursery Rhymes.
• 5:13
  Christie: Just simple rhymes.
• 5:14
  Christie: Raffi,
• 5:14
  Leslie: um,
• 5:15
  Christie: anyone know Raffi?
• 5:16
  Christie: I love Raffi.
• 5:17
  Leslie: We listened to Raffi and, um, I just introduced it to my grandson.
• 5:20
  Leslie: And so all fun, but just that this, the language of Willaby wallaby, woo.
• 5:25
  Leslie: You know?
• 5:25
  Leslie: Mm-hmm.
• 5:26
  Leslie: It's not real, but it's plain with sounds.
• 5:28
  Leslie: Mm-hmm.
• 5:28
  Leslie: And so all of those kind of things, silly rhymes and things like that.
• 5:32
  Leslie: Um, and then.
• 5:34
  Leslie: Labeling things.
• 5:35
  Leslie: And I think sometimes, whether that's writing it down or just saying, what is that?
• 5:39
  Leslie: Let's label it what?
• 5:41
  Leslie: That's a pencil.
• 5:42
  Leslie: Mm-hmm.
• 5:42
  Leslie: That's a clock.
• 5:43
  Leslie: That's a, you know, um, kids need words for things.
• 5:47
  Leslie: And then as we move that to, thinking about writing and reading.
• 5:52
  Leslie: We write that down on a post-it note and put it in front of something.
• 5:56
  Leslie: And that's, um, you know, we're clock and they recognize clock,
• 6:00
  Cheryl New: you know, and it's interesting and don't wanna harp on devices but, to be aware.
• 6:06
  Cheryl New: Somebody I know I think they were teaching at a Mother's Day out and they had, Maybe a 2-year-old was sitting in their lap and they opened up some cute little, Board book, you know the thick ones that children can chew on and the child kept rubbing their fingers Oh.
• 6:22
  Cheryl New: Against the board book Uhhuh.
• 6:24
  Cheryl New: And she just said, what are they doing?
• 6:26
  Cheryl New: And other teachers said, they're trying to scroll.
• 6:29
  Cheryl New: Yes.
• 6:30
  Cheryl New: So yes, it started being in the Mother's Day out.
• 6:33
  Cheryl New: They were trying to show the children.
• 6:35
  Cheryl New: Mm-hmm.
• 6:36
  Cheryl New: That in English, we read by turning pages from.
• 6:40
  Cheryl New: left to and Right that we're going through a book.
• 6:43
  Cheryl New: They had to teach their children.
• 6:44
  Cheryl New: They can't scroll through a book.
• 6:46
  Cheryl New: Yeah.
• 6:46
  Cheryl New: They have got to actually turn the pages.
• 6:49
  Cheryl New: So it is a new world.
• 6:50
  leslie ai: It is a new world and, and you have to ask yourself, okay, what's important in this world.
• 6:55
  leslie ai: I mean there are things like Kindle and I'm sure there are lots of other ones that, that turn the page like they would mm-hmm.
• 7:01
  leslie ai: Because there is that, that left to right that kids need to understand when they're reading print.
• 7:06
  leslie ai: Sometimes we think that they'll just get it and they don't because the.
• 7:11
  leslie ai: Devices are so intuitive that they're learning, oh, this, I just scroll.
• 7:14
  leslie ai: I go up and down Yeah.
• 7:16
  leslie ai: Um, so, so exposure
• 7:17
  Cheryl: really
• 7:18
  Cheryl New: counts.
• 7:19
  Cheryl New: Yes.
• 7:19
  leslie ai: And that exposure to books.
• 7:20
  leslie ai: All kinds
• 7:21
  Cheryl: of books.
• 7:21
  Cheryl: Absolutely.
• 7:21
  Cheryl: And reading books really matters.
• 7:23
  Cheryl: Yes,
• 7:23
  Leslie: yes.
• 7:24
  Leslie: Reading and listening.
• 7:26
  Leslie: And so going back to, um, audio books,.
• 7:30
  Leslie: It's okay for kids to listen to books that are higher than their reading level.
• 7:34
  Leslie: Yeah, and that's what I encourage.
• 7:35
  Leslie: 'cause it will enrich their vocabulary and you'll pick up on their interest a lot more when you're reading things that are above their reading level Uhhuh, so that they become interested in Oh, that's an interesting story that they couldn't read by themselves.
• 7:48
  Leslie: Yeah.
• 7:48
  Leslie: Yeah.
• 7:48
  Leslie: But that gives them the motivation to want to read it,
• 7:52
  Cheryl: so besides, creating this language rich environment mm-hmm.
• 7:55
  Cheryl: What are a few things that parents might be aware of even in this preschool age?
• 8:01
  leslie ai: I would say to do rhyming things with them if they're having a hard time finding rhymes.
• 8:07
  leslie ai: Mm-hmm.
• 8:07
  leslie ai: if they have been, um, exposed to reading, If you're seeing kind of a disconnect, that some sounds.
• 8:15
  leslie ai: Match up with some letters.
• 8:16
  leslie ai: Mm-hmm.
• 8:16
  leslie ai: A lot of kids will pick up on that.
• 8:18
  leslie ai: Mm-hmm.
• 8:19
  leslie ai: And get that.
• 8:19
  leslie ai: So if kids aren't picking up on that, okay, why?
• 8:24
  leslie ai: and we need to maybe look at doing a little more explicit teaching.
• 8:27
  leslie ai: So you're not
• 8:28
  Christie: looking for perfection?
• 8:29
  Christie: No.
• 8:29
  Christie: You're looking that they
• 8:30
  Leslie: would understand the concept.
• 8:32
  Leslie: Yes.
• 8:32
  Leslie: Understanding more that, oh, words say this and.
• 8:36
  Leslie: I take, the approach with phonics is sound based.
• 8:39
  Leslie: So sound is first.
• 8:41
  Leslie: Uhhuh we speak, we talk, and that's more innate.
• 8:45
  Leslie: We know how to do that.
• 8:46
  Leslie: Our brain works with sound and talking.
• 8:49
  Leslie: Um, we try to make sense of the world with our words, but when we put it to print.
• 8:55
  Leslie: Our brain doesn't work as naturally.
• 8:57
  Leslie: And so we wanna start with the sound, um, and then match that to symbols.
• 9:03
  Cheryl New: Oh, good.
• 9:03
  Cheryl New: So, okay.
• 9:03
  Cheryl New: So let's move up a little bit older.
• 9:05
  Cheryl New: Let's say the beginning reading, age.
• 9:09
  Cheryl New: Mm-hmm.
• 9:10
  Cheryl New: Uh, what are things that parents can do besides continue what you've already suggested?
• 9:14
  Leslie: Well, I would say it kind of cuts a K through two and then three through four.
• 9:17
  Leslie: Okay.
• 9:17
  Leslie: I would say.
• 9:18
  Leslie: But, um, early on, take'em to the library, find books that are in of interest to them.
• 9:23
  Leslie: So, you know, you can go out on the library website and if they're really interested in construction, take them to that section and say, okay, let's, let's find a book in this section.
• 9:34
  Leslie: And because it is interest, a lot of, kids need to have a reason for reading.
• 9:40
  Leslie: Um, and for some kids that story will be enough.
• 9:43
  Leslie: And for other kids, they wanna learn about something specific.
• 9:46
  Leslie: Mm-hmm.
• 9:46
  Leslie: And that's where you know, your kids, you know, what is gonna pique their interest.
• 9:52
  Leslie: Um, so I think getting them to read, having them read signs to you,
• 9:57
  Cheryl: Do you wanna know my oldest daughter, the first word that she read on her own?
• 10:04
  Cheryl: Walmart, Uhhuh.
• 10:05
  Cheryl: Oh,
• 10:07
  Leslie: okay.
• 10:07
  Leslie: Well, because it's the symbol, right?
• 10:09
  Leslie: Right.
• 10:09
  Leslie: The symbols.
• 10:09
  Leslie: And we don't even know that that's all she connected the picture.
• 10:14
  Leslie: Yes, absolutely.
• 10:14
  Leslie: Right.
• 10:14
  Leslie: Walmart,
• 10:15
  Cheryl: because we're going to Walmart.
• 10:17
  Leslie: Right.
• 10:17
  Leslie: And I just
• 10:18
  Cheryl: thought that was hilarious.
• 10:19
  Cheryl: Thought that was her first word.
• 10:20
  Leslie: Well, and when I.
• 10:21
  Leslie: Say, get them to read signs.
• 10:22
  Leslie: That's kind of tricky now.
• 10:23
  Leslie: 'cause you don't know exactly what's going, what they're gonna be reading.
• 10:27
  Leslie: That's true.
• 10:27
  Leslie: Right.
• 10:28
  Leslie: Um, so I think connecting, so when you see a word you're connecting, oh, that's a duh duh.
• 10:33
  Leslie: And mm-hmm..
• 10:33
  Leslie: Mm-hmm.
• 10:34
  Leslie: Um, you're, noticing and pointing out, oh, that d always says duh.
• 10:39
  Leslie: Mm-hmm.
• 10:39
  Christie: Yep.
• 10:40
  Christie: I really love your point about, um, finding what your kids are interested in.
• 10:45
  Christie: Yeah.
• 10:46
  Christie: You know, as adults, some of us love reading, some of us don't, right?
• 10:50
  Christie: Some, some are more, um, literary minded, some are more logical minded.
• 10:55
  Christie: But if you can find, um, the reward or make reading the means to an end, end that they're really wanting in life, whether it be to gain knowledge or.
• 11:05
  Christie: Like you say, signs, you know, that they want to drive someday, or well, you wouldn't want to walk into the wrong bathroom.
• 11:11
  Christie: Or, you know, just showing them the practical reasons of why, um, reading gives them something in life.
• 11:17
  Christie: Mm-hmm.
• 11:18
  Christie: Right, right.
• 11:19
  leslie ai: Most of the time kids are going to learn some sort of phonics at this stage in life.
• 11:26
  leslie ai: if they're reading something, they're using context.
• 11:28
  leslie ai: And yes, that's what happened when we didn't teach phonics at all, is they looked at pictures.
• 11:34
  leslie ai: They looked at and, and cover the pictures.
• 11:36
  leslie ai: Cover the pictures, read it, and then let's look at the picture.
• 11:39
  leslie ai: Does it match up with what we thought it was gonna be?
• 11:40
  leslie ai: I mean, make it a game.
• 11:42
  leslie ai: Um, because kids are reading in context, but they're not really reading.
• 11:46
  leslie ai: So the problem with that is when they come to new words that they've never seen before
• 11:49
  Leslie: They don't know what to do with them.
• 11:51
  Cheryl: mm-hmm.
• 11:51
  Leslie: I
• 11:51
  Christie: remember that with one of my girls.
• 11:53
  Christie: Once they started reading chapter books, I realized they weren't as strong of a reader as I thought
• 11:58
  Leslie: because
• 11:58
  Christie: there weren't the pictures to help them along.
• 12:01
  Leslie: Yes, exactly.
• 12:02
  Leslie: Um, and that's when we usually figure out kids have been faking it mm-hmm.
• 12:06
  Leslie: Is when they get to third, fourth grade.
• 12:08
  Leslie: Oh.
• 12:09
  Leslie: Because also with math, you have story problems.
• 12:12
  Leslie: You have context problems.
• 12:13
  Leslie: Yeah.
• 12:13
  Leslie: And they can't read'em, figure'em out.
• 12:15
  Leslie: So I would say that's another benefit of giving them something a little harder to read is you're seeing, are they actually decoding?
• 12:23
  Leslie: And that's the part, the decoding, the phonics part.
• 12:26
  Leslie: Very good.
• 12:27
  Cheryl: And uh, friend of mine who is the best read person I know, And she was in California when they only did sight word.
• 12:35
  Cheryl: Mm-hmm.
• 12:35
  Cheryl: So she doesn't have phonic skills.
• 12:38
  Cheryl: Yep.
• 12:38
  Cheryl: And even now, this late in her life, sometimes there'll be a big word and she'll have to ask her husband.
• 12:43
  Cheryl: To read it to her.
• 12:44
  Cheryl: Yes.
• 12:44
  Cheryl: 'Cause it's just memorized.
• 12:46
  Cheryl: Yeah it's amazing to me that she's read so well, so
• 12:48
  Leslie: those explicit, those things that we have to show kids and teach them sometimes are, words are broken up into parts and mm-hmm.
• 12:55
  Leslie: Words are broken up into sounds and so Yeah.
• 12:57
  Leslie: And that's what you'll find with spelling.
• 12:59
  Leslie: Um, if you teach them to say the sound in their head as they're spelling, then they're able to.
• 13:06
  Leslie: Map it and it it is, it's ortho a graphic mapping.
• 13:08
  Leslie: It's the big name for it.
• 13:10
  Leslie: It's, it's writing and, and the sound that maps together in the brain.
• 13:14
  Leslie: Okay.
• 13:14
  Leslie: And someone,
• 13:15
  Cheryl New: a young mom that knew we were coming in here to talk.
• 13:18
  Cheryl New: Mm-hmm.
• 13:18
  Cheryl New: And she said, I have a question.
• 13:21
  Cheryl New: And then I remember my kids do it too, most letters.
• 13:24
  Cheryl New: are, fine.
• 13:24
  Cheryl New: Mm-hmm.
• 13:25
  Cheryl New: Certain letters flip three E always write the J's backwards.
• 13:30
  Cheryl New: Of course b-d is hard, Mm-hmm.
• 13:33
  Cheryl New: Fives are backwards and there's certain repeated patterns when they can do everything else and they flip those.
• 13:39
  Cheryl New: Is, that a concern or is that just a maturity thing that you just keep pointing out?
• 13:44
  Leslie: Usually that is a problem that will work itself out Uhhuh.
• 13:47
  Leslie: And there's a scientific reason that that happens and it's kind of neat because really, so if you look at a chair, you know, that's a chair.
• 13:53
  Leslie: If you flip the chair upside down, you know it's still a chair.
• 13:56
  Leslie: The way our brain looks at pictures, we know what it is, no matter which way we turn it.
• 14:02
  Leslie: So if you look at a letter.
• 14:05
  Leslie: Your brain's looking at it like a picture and it's, it's seeing A.
• 14:09
  Leslie: It's seeing B, but then if I flip it, oh, well is that B or D or P or Q, you know, C Oh.
• 14:15
  Leslie: So they're seeing the one object as all the same thing.
• 14:18
  Leslie: Okay.
• 14:19
  Leslie: So it is a learned thing.
• 14:20
  Leslie: Yeah..
• 14:21
  Leslie: So if you think about that, the way.
• 14:24
  Leslie: We map things in our head, in our brain, and how our eyes see it.
• 14:27
  Leslie: You go, oh, well that makes so much sense that they, they flip it.
• 14:30
  Leslie: Yeah.
• 14:30
  Christie: That I've never heard that.
• 14:31
  Christie: That's fascinating.
• 14:32
  Cheryl: Yeah.
• 14:32
  Cheryl: Oh, well,
• 14:32
  Christie: because
• 14:33
  Cheryl: I've seen before where they'll go read this and you read it and they go, and there are three mistakes in this and mm-hmm.
• 14:39
  Cheryl: We are projecting Yes, yes.
• 14:41
  Cheryl: What we know and they're tricking
• 14:42
  Leslie: us on it.
• 14:43
  Leslie: Well, and that's what we wanna get to eventually, um, is being able to fill in the things.
• 14:48
  Leslie: Yes.
• 14:48
  Leslie: Because we don't read.
• 14:49
  Leslie: Right as closely once we learn to read, but kids kind of wanna flip that and go backwards.
• 14:55
  Leslie: And I think as adults that we, oh, we realized, oh, we can't do that.
• 14:58
  Leslie: Um, they wanna just read it and you can't, you've gotta start with the basic blocks.
• 15:02
  Leslie: And then you can get to that point
• 15:04
  Cheryl: a phrase I heard one time that you have to move from learning to read, to reading, to learn.
• 15:11
  Cheryl: Mm mm-hmm.
• 15:11
  Cheryl: And that, that's a progressive thing.
• 15:14
  Cheryl: The first part can be messy, but we want to get them where they are reading to learn.
• 15:19
  Cheryl: Yes.
• 15:19
  Cheryl: And enjoying it.
• 15:20
  leslie ai: Yes, and I've always taken that kind of approach but one of the things that I would say, we are still learning to read as we're reading to learn.
• 15:29
  leslie ai: Because as you get older, you're picking up other languages, you're picking up other, um, parts of, speech.
• 15:37
  leslie ai: like prefixes, suffixes, all those things.
• 15:39
  leslie ai: Sure.
• 15:39
  leslie ai: Picking up on all those things.
• 15:40
  leslie ai: So.
• 15:40
  leslie ai: we should always be learning!
• 15:42
  Cheryl New: absolutely!! Okay, besides the things we've mentioned, is there anything else that you would encourage parents with So.
• 15:51
  leslie ai: Um, I think when you notice kids guessing words.
• 15:54
  leslie ai: Mm-hmm.
• 15:54
  leslie ai: They get the beginning and they just guess but they may flip'em or it could just be something with the same beginning.
• 15:59
  leslie ai: So they're just guessing.
• 16:00
  leslie ai: They're not reading through.
• 16:01
  leslie ai: When they don't get it right.
• 16:03
  leslie ai: Um, to not correct them, but to just point to it and say, check that again.
• 16:07
  leslie ai: Oh, that's good.
• 16:07
  leslie ai: Okay.
• 16:08
  leslie ai: Because they need to be the ones to figure it out.
• 16:10
  leslie ai: If you're correcting them, then they're gonna move on.
• 16:12
  Cheryl New: So, do you mean, If they can generally read and they see.
• 16:16
  Cheryl New: Three.
• 16:17
  Cheryl New: And they say there.
• 16:18
  Cheryl New: Mm-hmm.
• 16:18
  Cheryl New: Should we Say, go back and try again.
• 16:20
  leslie ai: yes.
• 16:21
  Leslie: So there's different purposes for reading practice.
• 16:23
  Leslie: Right.
• 16:24
  Leslie: Okay.
• 16:24
  Leslie: Uhhuh, you have one level that you want them to be able to read and have success.
• 16:27
  Leslie: Mm-hmm.
• 16:28
  Leslie: But then you've got the guided reading, which is you wouldn't give that to them to read by themselves.
• 16:32
  Leslie: They're gonna need help.
• 16:34
  Leslie: Good.
• 16:34
  Leslie: Keep those short.
• 16:35
  Leslie: But I think those are important.
• 16:36
  Leslie: You've gotta push'em.
• 16:37
  Leslie: So sometimes we, we don't wanna give kids things that are too hard for them because, oh no, they're gonna get discouraged.
• 16:44
  Leslie: But if you're letting them work it out, and it's a small section of something.
• 16:48
  Leslie: They're actually making more gains because you've pushed them a little bit.
• 16:53
  Leslie: And that's, that's a key in finding that balance with learning.
• 16:58
  Leslie: There is some resistance, right?
• 17:00
  Leslie: When we learn something, there's that, that resistance.
• 17:02
  Leslie: And so trying to find that balance between, it's hard and we're gonna help you get that.
• 17:08
  Leslie: And not, we're not gonna cross the line to frustration.
• 17:10
  Leslie: There you go.
• 17:10
  Leslie: So it's that, it's that balance.
• 17:12
  Christie: So would you say it's good to tell your kids, Hey, I got you this book.
• 17:15
  Christie: It may be a little challenging.
• 17:16
  Christie: Yes.
• 17:16
  Christie: So we're gonna work through it together.
• 17:17
  Christie: Absolutely.
• 17:18
  Christie: Oh, I like that.
• 17:19
  Cheryl New: Yeah, Well, it's an, you know, I'm listening to you.
• 17:21
  Cheryl New: It's the same thing when you go to work out in the gym.
• 17:23
  Cheryl New: Yes.
• 17:24
  Cheryl New: If you keep the same weights, you're not gonna get stronger.
• 17:28
  Leslie: right,
• 17:29
  Cheryl New: right?
• 17:29
  Cheryl New: Mm-hmm.
• 17:29
  Cheryl New: But you don't want to strain yourself, so, right.
• 17:32
  Cheryl New: You want to do.
• 17:33
  Cheryl New: The bulk of what you're doing isn't too challenging.
• 17:35
  Cheryl New: Right.
• 17:36
  Cheryl New: And you want a little bit more challenging.
• 17:38
  Cheryl New: Yes.
• 17:38
  Cheryl New: Oh, I like that.
• 17:39
  Cheryl New: Yes, any other hints like that yeah,
• 17:41
  Leslie: One of the terms that I use is being flexible because we know that some sounds are a little bit different in different things, so, okay.
• 17:48
  Leslie: Let's be flexible.
• 17:49
  Leslie: So when they're working it out, let's say the word kind and they're saying K, end kind.
• 17:54
  Leslie: Okay, let's flex that.
• 17:55
  Leslie: What else can our vow say?
• 17:56
  Leslie: Ah, and oh, kind.
• 17:58
  Leslie: Okay.
• 17:58
  Leslie: Yeah, that's it.
• 17:59
  Leslie: So teaching them as you're guiding them, you're teaching them, you're being flexible, you're reading from left to right, you are breaking words into smaller chunks.
• 18:10
  Leslie: Uhhuh, um, so going, oh, notice how that says RE re and oh, look at this one.
• 18:15
  Leslie: It says re Oh, that's always the same.
• 18:17
  Leslie: Remember, replace.
• 18:19
  Leslie: Mm-hmm.
• 18:19
  Leslie: Um.
• 18:20
  Leslie: And that's teaching them prefix without calling it a prefix.
• 18:22
  Cheryl: Mm-hmm.
• 18:23
  Cheryl: Mm-hmm.
• 18:23
  Cheryl: So you're saying as we're working with them, whatever age, that we're connecting the dots a little bit?
• 18:29
  Cheryl: Yes.
• 18:29
  Cheryl: And then we kind of pull off a little bit trying to help them connect the dots.
• 18:33
  Cheryl: So we go in and out.
• 18:35
  Cheryl: Absolutely.
• 18:35
  Cheryl: Sometimes we connect a little bit and sometimes we let them connect.
• 18:39
  Cheryl New: Yes.
• 18:40
  Cheryl New: Like riding a bike.
• 18:41
  Cheryl New: Yeah.
• 18:41
  Cheryl New: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, this is good.
• 18:43
  Leslie: Just be patient, um, and give them a lot of practice.
• 18:47
  Leslie: Mm-hmm.
• 18:48
  Leslie: I think it, that's our biggest commodity is time.
• 18:51
  Leslie: Um.
• 18:52
  Leslie: The reason my tutoring practice is called the space to Learn because sometimes we don't have space.
• 18:57
  Leslie: Sometimes we're trying to just get through curriculums, uhhuh and get through and, um, just finding space to take time.
• 19:05
  Leslie: To practice and let it be hard sometimes and let it be successful.
• 19:10
  Leslie: Mm-hmm.
• 19:10
  Cheryl: But it's worth it.
• 19:11
  Leslie: Yes, absolutely.
• 19:12
  Leslie: Okay,
• 19:12
  Cheryl New: and I hear you, because it is a pretty slow process.
• 19:18
  Cheryl New: Mm-hmm.
• 19:18
  Cheryl New: To sit and let.
• 19:20
  Cheryl New: Them read to.
• 19:21
  Cheryl New: you.
• 19:22
  Cheryl New: and to some parents in our digital age, that might sound like you're trying to carve on the inside of a cave.
• 19:30
  Cheryl New: Absolutely.
• 19:30
  Cheryl New: Mm-hmm.
• 19:30
  Cheryl New: But that actually is the best process.
• 19:33
  Cheryl New: Yes, it is.
• 19:33
  Cheryl New: Are
• 19:33
  Leslie: you right?
• 19:34
  Leslie: Yes, it is.
• 19:35
  Leslie: It is.
• 19:36
  Leslie: Yeah.
• 19:36
  Leslie: And just
• 19:36
  Christie (2): being patient in that it can be, um, challenging and maturing for both of us.
• 19:42
  Christie (2): Yeah, absolutely.
• 19:43
  Christie (2): Yeah.
• 19:43
  Leslie: And, and the pride that kids get when I can read
• 19:46
  Christie: that.
• 19:46
  Christie: Mm-hmm.
• 19:47
  Christie: Yeah.
• 19:47
  Leslie: Very good.
• 19:48
  Cheryl New: You know, Leslie, I don't know about you all, but I think I'm seeing the pendulum swing.
• 19:53
  Cheryl New: Yeah.
• 19:54
  Cheryl New: Uh, I'm seeing some really positive signs.
• 19:57
  Cheryl New: Yes.
• 19:57
  Cheryl New: Uh, audio books, audible and so forth, I see more and more people listening to books and mm-hmm.
• 20:04
  Cheryl New: And one of the things I'm seeing, and I'm talking about late twenties to early forties in my kids, that.
• 20:12
  Cheryl New: Almost all of'em are in book clubs.
• 20:14
  Cheryl New: Mm.
• 20:15
  Cheryl New: Yeah.
• 20:15
  Cheryl New: Book clubs used to be something that like old ladies with their little crocheting would come together and have a book club.
• 20:23
  Cheryl New: Millennials, you know, wouldn't have book cards.
• 20:25
  Cheryl New: I would say
• 20:26
  Christie: even younger than that.
• 20:27
  Christie: I see.
• 20:27
  Christie: In the 20 somethings.
• 20:29
  Christie: Oh really?
• 20:29
  Christie: Like late teens or maybe early twenties A lot of the people I know are drawn more towards, um, more lo-fi, less digital, less uhhuh.
• 20:40
  Christie: Technology, more traditional habits of, you know, even just like making your tea instead of using an electric tea.
• 20:48
  Christie: Kettle things like that.
• 20:49
  Christie: Yeah.
• 20:49
  Christie: Yeah.
• 20:49
  Leslie: I think it started with record players, right?
• 20:51
  Leslie: Yeah.
• 20:51
  Leslie: They became a big thing and albums.
• 20:54
  Leslie: Um, and we're like, well, what we got those'cause they were kind of scratchy, right?
• 20:58
  Leslie: But they recognize.
• 21:00
  Leslie: That there's something good in those things.
• 21:01
  Leslie: Yeah.
• 21:02
  Leslie: Of just that, that quiet slow thing.
• 21:05
  Leslie: The value of a slower life this is
• 21:07
  Cheryl: exciting for a civilization.
• 21:09
  Cheryl: It's, it's to feel this switch.
• 21:10
  Cheryl: And particularly in the area of reading, I'm just starting to see like younger people sitting in coffee shops with this thing called books.
• 21:19
  Cheryl: Actual books of paper, yeah.
• 21:21
  Cheryl: Reading books.
• 21:22
  Cheryl: Yes.
• 21:22
  Cheryl: So I'm excited about the trend.
• 21:24
  Cheryl: I hope it continues.
• 21:25
  Cheryl: Yep.
• 21:26
  Cheryl New: Leslie,
• 21:27
  Cheryl: Thank you so much for coming in.
• 21:29
  Cheryl: Yeah, you're welcome.
• 21:30
  Cheryl (2): So parents, remember, hang in there, keep loving, keep persevering, because it's worth it.
• 21:36
  Cheryl New: Sharing a story together, whether it's a bedtime picture book, an audio book on a road trip, or passing, a favorite novel between generations does more than entertain.
• 21:49
  Cheryl New: It creates connection, builds memories, and invites conversation in ways few other things can.
• 21:57
  Cheryl New: So keep making time for those moments, whatever your family's stage or season, and if you have a story, a win, a struggle, or a favorite book that's brought connection in your home, I'd love to hear from you At contact@theparentingpodcast.com or on our social channels.
• 22:19
  Cheryl New: I look forward to being with you next time, and until then, keep making space for what lasts.