Essential Indicators of Your Child's Academic and Socio-Emotional Growth

What to look for in your child's academic and socio-emotional performance

                Academic                                                                                                                                 Socio-emotional

  • Difficulty recalling letter names and their corresponding sounds.

  • Low fluency in oral reading.

  • Challenges in remembering sight words.

  • Phonological difficulties, including rhyming, segmenting, blending, and understanding syllables.

  • Struggles with reading nonsense words.

  • Challenges with spelling.

  • Often uses synonyms while reading, such as substituting "house" for "home."

  • Finds it difficult to express thoughts in writing.

  • Overwhelmed by multi-step directions.

  • Frequent miscues, especially with visually similar words, such as "left"/"felt" and "where"/"there"/"when"/"then."

  • Experiences difficulty tracking text while reading.

  • Struggles to copy from the board or from rough drafts to final copies.

  • Uses filler words like "uh" when reading aloud.

    • Presents as anxious and often appears to be worried or uneasy in various situations.

    • Could show ADHD type behaviors, such as impulsivity and difficulty focusing on tasks.

    • May have a difficult time making friends, often struggling with social interactions and connections.

    • May shut down or have an escalation of behavior during ELA block, leading to increased stress and anxiety.

    • May have tummy aches or headaches frequently, especially during ELA activities, which can hinder participation.

    • Feels like a failure in academic settings, leading to a lack of motivation and self-esteem.

    • Shows frustration, often expressed through body language or verbal outbursts

    • Says “I hate reading” as a way to express dislike for academic tasks and challenges.

 

Help Your Struggling Reader at Home

Read Together everyday (10-20 minutes)

Read aloud to your child every day.

Ask simple questions:

-What happened?

-Why do you think that happened?

-What do you think will happen next?

Practice Sounds Before Letters

Try games like:

-What word starts with the /m/ sound?

-Clap out syllables in words.

-Blend sounds together: 

/c/ /a/ /t/=cat

-Break words apart:

"ship" /sh/ /i/ /p/

Phonics Practice

  • Letter sounds (not just letter names_

  • Short words like Cat, Sit, Hop

  • Word families: cat, bat, hat, sat

  • Sounding out unfamiliar words instead of guessing.

If they get stuck, encourage them to:

1. Look at every letter.

2. Say each sound.

3. Blend the sounds together.

Don't Memorize--Decode

  • Looking through the whole word.

  • Using letter sounds.

  • Using word parts (syllables)

  • Using sound/spelling (th, ea, igh)

  • Trying again if it doesn't sound right.