By 5th and 6th grade, your child should be reading fluently.  This means with little to no mistakes, and at a pace that allows them to pay attention and understand the meaning behind what they are reading.  If they are not currently a fluent reader, they may struggle with the subject of reading.  It's our job as parents and teachers to help children to make sense of what they read.  The old statement, the more you read, the better you get, is TRUE!  Frequency in accessing text is the optimal way for children to learn to read better.  If your child is not well versed in a wide range of vocabulary, they might need a dictionary as they are reading or accessing dictionary.com to assist them with meanings of new words that they do not know or can't grasp from the context of what they have read.  Now, some students may struggle with language acquisition... for many reasons.  They may not be talked to a lot, or read to a lot and many do not have the variety of life experiences to be exposed to a variety of language opportunities.  Just because one does not read well may not mean that they have dyslexia, but many students who do not have these early foundational language opportunities struggle with reading and grow to dislike it because it is not easy.

This year, staying organized, following directions, and completing daily work will be key to being successful in all their classes.  I know that time outside school is precious but the habits they establish now will only assist them as they move to jr. high and high school.  Please set aside a block of time each night that you have them turn off technology (social media/gaming) and require them to work on school homework, or if they do not have homework, this time should be spent reading from a book - preferable one they have checked out from our library that they are interested in reading. The act of reading and writing about what you have read helps to solidify brain connections to text. This connection can be pulled back up later for reference when encountering text that has a similar meaning or context.