Do you have a homeschooler who struggles with reading, says they don’t like reading, or even a child who struggles reading out loud? By adding the concept of Shadow Reading to your homeschool routine, your child’s confidence and opinion with reading will greatly improve!
What is Shadow Reading with Kids?
Shadow reading is a literacy strategy that involves someone reading aloud to children (usually a homeschooling parent, or it could be a friend, relative, older sibling…) and their following along in the text.
It is a very simple and straightforward process where an adult or another child reads aloud a passage from a story.
This process, also known as “shared reading,” helps children develop fluency and comprehension skills.
Next, you will have the child repeat the same passage or sentences that you just read to them, BACK to you!
It’s important to note that shadow reading should not be done without first explaining the process to students.
Shadow reading can help teach students of all ages how to read by focusing on the habits they need to develop for sight words and comprehension skills.
Benefits of Shadow Reading with Kids for Homeschool
Shadow reading is a powerful intervention that can be used to improve the reading skills of children struggling with reading or reading aloud, and for the child who says they don’t like reading in your homeschooling family.
Because you are first reading the passage to your child, your child will almost be mimicking you as they read the passage back to you.
This helps your child gain confidence in their own reading skills, especially with learning and reading larger words.
Observation I made recently of a child…
I was talking to my mom’s kid neighbor the other day. She’s 6 and plays with my kiddos when we go over to Grandmas.
She goes to public school and is basically left to herself all day.
So one day while we were all outside playing, I decided to ask her what she thought about reading.
Our convo went a little bit like this:
Me: “Do you like to read books?”
6-Year-Old: “No, it’s borrrring!”
Me: “Oh, reading is so much fun! You just have to find the right books about things that are interesting and fun!”
6-Year-Old: “No, I just think it’s boring and I don’t like to read.”
*I tell her to hold on, and I grab a children’s book from my mom’s bookshelf and start to read it to her.*
6-Year-Old: *laughs, giggles, and inches closer and closer to me as I am reading to her, completely absorbed in the book I’m reading.*
Me: “See! Books can be fun, don’t you think?”
6-Year-Old: “I don’t know. Maybe! Can you read me more?!”
You see, from this instance, I learned that sometimes children have this negative outlook on reading because they might find it boring or not interesting, simply because they aren’t being read to by their parents.
But when being read TO them by an adult, and one who uses a lot of emphases, different voices, etc. the child begins to really enjoy books.
I bet if I were to ask her to now read after me, she totally would have! And she would have enjoyed our shadow reading session!
Shadow reading sessions can be used to build or improve reading skills as well as provide valuable feedback on how well a child reads. Shadow reading, when done well, can also help children to feel less embarrassed about their abilities and ensure that they feel safe while trying new or difficult words or books.
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Understanding the Importance of Shadow Reading with Students During Homeschooling
Shadow reading makes it easier for the child to read the passages because they are following somebody else’s actions rather than trying to decode each word from scratch on their own.
When to Use Shadow Reading
If you have a child who seems to struggle with reading out loud or even, reading to himself, your child might greatly benefit from shadow reading.
Shadow reading can easily be added to your lesson plan for homeschooling and can be used as a great reading comprehension exercise.
So, be sure to add it to your lesson plan, Homeschooling Mom!
What to Expect from Homeschoolers in a Typical Homeschool Shadow Reading Session?
A typical shadow reading session will include an adult (or older sibling) reader who will read various passages from a story for about 10-15 minutes each session.
Usually, the text is broken up into smaller sections, like reading a few sentences at a time, a paragraph, or if it’s a smaller picture book, one page at a time.
Then the child will read the same text back to their shadow reader.
It’s important to ask your child to narrate back to you after your shadow reading session, to make sure they are comprehending what they are reading. (Narration was a big concept that Charlotte Mason taught!)
Why to Shadow Read with Your Kids
To strengthen and build confidence in your child’s reading skills, and to instil a love of reading.
How to Shadow Read with Your Homeschooler (In 4 Easy Steps!)
- Choose a great book. Living books are highly recommended.
- Read a short passage, few sentences (or if it’s a picture book, one whole page) to your homeschool student, all while the child is following along with you. You should use your finger to move along the words as you read them.
- Have the student read and repeat the same passage back to you.
- Have your child narrate back to you what the story was about to ensure they are comprehending what they’re reading.
4 Tips for Successful Shadow Reading
1. Choose books that are interesting
Great literature or picture books are a MUST (Amazon is a great place to buy brand new books). Stay away from dry, boring, texts and read living books! Poems will also work great for this.
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2. Slow down
When you are shadow reading with your child, make sure you don’t rush through the text, but instead, read at a nice steady pace.
3. Use Emphasis
Nothing is worse than listening to a person read in a monotone voice.
When you are shadow reading with your child, use different voices for the characters, emphasize words that need emphasis, and read with excitement.
Your child will mimic these actions, and in return, become a better and more confident reader.
4. Encourage
Finally, encourage!
After each shadow reading session, be sure to choose one area that you can encourage your child. It may be some things like:
“I love how you chose that voice for that character.”
“You did great reading that big word!”
“I love how you used a sad tone in your voice when the character’s dog died.”
Introduce your child to the world of great literature and start the joyful process of shadow reading this homeschool school year!
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