For parents
Empower™ Reading for Parents
Many parents are eager to support the learning of their child when their child is participating in the Empower™ Reading program. Parents are encouraged, if their schedule permits, to arrange to visit the Empower Reading class. A visit to the class will better inform you about what your child is learning in the program.
Once your child has completed the first 20 to 25 hours of the program, your child’s Empower™ Reading teacher will likely send stories home with your child to read and further practice his/her skills. Parents are encouraged to listen to their child read these stories. If your child struggles with a word, encourage him/her to use the Empower™ Reading strategies that s/he has already learned to figure out the word (e.g., “What strategy can you use/can help you read that word?). (The Empower™ Reading Strategies are learned in a particular order and at specific times throughout the program.)
Ensure that your child establishes a reading pace that allows him/her to read fluently but also allow him/her time to figure out words that s/he is not familiar with. Reading too quickly (which is what most children want to do) often leads to unnecessary errors in known words and does not allow the reader enough time to implement strategies on new or difficult words. Your child’s reading rate should develop and increase over time as reading practice continues.
Research has shown that reading to your child is an important activity that contributes to the child’s development of reading and other language skills. Parents are encouraged to read to their child every day from materials beyond his/her current reading level and on a variety of topics. Exposure to a broad array of subjects will help to expand his/her general knowledge and help him/her to learn new vocabulary. This will in turn, increase your child’s success with applying the reading strategies taught in the Empower™ Reading program.
When your child has completed the program, he/she will receive a resource folder (take home package) that will provide him/her with all the support necessary to continue to use the strategies he/she has learned. Encourage your child to use this while reading at school and at home. The resource folder/take home package describes the five Empower™ Reading Decoding Strategies taught in the Empower™ Reading Program (Sounding Out, Rhyming, Peeling Off, Vowel Alert, and SPY). Below are links to descriptions of these strategies.