As your local tutors in Chicago, we hear lots of requests from our parents to build foundational reading skills like reading fluency. Today we’re excited to share several easy ways you can practice and build reading fluency at home!

In order for a child to understand what they have read, they must first be able to read it fluently. One common misconception is that reading fluently means reading fast. Reading fluency is much more than reading speed. It involves reading with the proper intonation, expression, and accurate speed. When students are unable to read fluently, their understanding of what they have read is negatively impacted. If your child is spending time and cognitive effort on decoding and trying to read what’s on the page, they’ll struggle to read for comprehension.

Thankfully, there are some simple strategies you as a parent can use to help increase your child’s reading fluency.

Read aloud to your child (and often)

I cannot overemphasize the importance of reading out loud to your children. Your child is never too young to hear you read a story to them. When you read to your children, be sure to use the appropriate pacing, expression, and tone. If there are characters who are expressing sadness, then your vocal tone should reflect sadness. 

When you read aloud with your children, be sure that they can see the words in order to follow along, and it would be helpful if you also use your finger, a pencil, or some other tool to point out the words as you read them. Keep in mind though that your reading fluency is supposed to be modeling what we want them to do, so no monotone or choppy delivery. 

One last tip about reading aloud: just as your child is never too young for you to start reading to them, they are also never too old. As a teacher, my students have always enjoyed having me read out loud to them - even when I taught high school. You can read to them the latest young adult favorite or classic stories you enjoyed when you were a kid. Just be sure to keep it as entertaining (fluent) as you do for younger children so they have that appropriate model and you keep them interested. 

Use closed-captioning on their favorite TV shows

Closed captioning can turn TV watching into a read aloud opportunity. It provides fluency support in a similar way that reading aloud to your child does. With closed captioning, your child will continue to hear how text should sound while they have the words in front of them to follow along, so be sure to enable it for everything your child watches

Use song lyrics!

Pull up song lyrics for your child to follow along with when they are listening to their favorite songs. If they are watching YouTube music videos, turn on the closed captioning. 

Even if they don’t actively follow along every word, they will still benefit from having the lyrics in front of them. You can even print out lyrics of your child’s favorite song and have them practice singing along. Karaoke anyone? 

Invite your child read aloud to you

Ask your child to read to you as often as possible. Cooking with a recipe? Have them read the recipe directions. Going shopping with a list? They should read the list. Looking at ingredients on packaging? Have them read it to you.

You get the gist. Anything and everything that needs to be read; have your child read it to you. When they come across words they don’t know, encourage them to sound it out. Give them a few seconds to try it on their own before supplying them with the answer. 

Fluency videos

This last “tip” is actually a tool. For those of you with younger children (think preschool through around 5th grade), check out the Jack Hartmann reading fluency videos on YouTube. He sings about everything! Watching any of his phonics or sight word videos is a fun and interactive way to build reading fluency. 

Final notes on reading fluency

Strong reading fluency is a key foundational component to your child’s overall reading success. Incorporating these strategies into your everyday routines will give your student frequent opportunities to become the best reader they can be. 

If your child needs more specialized reading help, we have multi-sensory trained tutors like Orton-Gillingham tutors on our team. For more reading, check out tips on how to prevent the summer slide in reading and writing!

About the author:

Kimberly Frey studied exceptional education and is licensed by the Illinois State Board of Education as a learning behavior specialist. She has been teaching for almost 20 years and currently works as a diverse learners resource teacher and a math extended impact teacher for Chicago Public Schools.