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Reading Games: In the way of practical help, suggest games that could be played at home (e.g. word bingo or a cloze game where children fill in missing words or phrases), explaining the particular value of games to a child with reading problems -namely that they're fun and so don't seem too much like hard work, and also that they have a useful repetitive, reinforcing function. When you recommend a game, try to explain just how it is designed to help. There are booklets and pamphlets available, which give ideas for games that can easily be made and played at home (e.g. Hip Pocket Spelling Games series, New York, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1983).
Reading charts, games, picture books, and preprimers lead up to simple stories that children like to read and books giving information that children want. Olson (96, 1947) gave an example of a second-grade teacher who developed a room library of 115 titles, ranging in difficulty from preprimer to fourth grade. She continued with the instruction in reading but gave no assignments.
This teacher asked parents to take most of the responsibility for teaching the sight vocabulary, while he himself taught the spelling patterns. Parents were given advice and materials to provide and play reading games with their children. This method worked extremely well. It was noticeable, though, that where parents did not attend the supporting reading-workshop session, much less progress was made. This reinforces our view that regular contact between parents and teachers is essential if a PACT scheme is to flourish.
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