"Tap, don't talk."
There's nothing more frustrating to a young, beginning reader than to have his/her parent interrupting them every few seconds to correct them. Young readers will make a lot of mistakes. They need time to process things in their minds; mostly sounds. If they mispronounce something, they hopefully will catch it and know that what they said doesn't make sense in the context of the story. They also will often skip words, or add in extra words anticipating what they think the story is going to say next. They also often substitute one word for another. These things are important to correct, as they can completely change the meaning of the story or whatever they are reading.
There's a better way to bring these little things to your child's attention than telling them. Hearing you correct them so much out loud really draws their attention to just how many mistakes they make. So, rather than telling them to, "Look at it again, honey," or asking them questions such as, "How do you say this word?" or just simply saying, "Nope, that's wrong," over and over, save your breath and your child's self-esteem by simply tapping near the word they make a mistake on. They can pause, think about it and try again. If they miss it the second try, then tap once more. If on the third try they still can't figure it out, then go ahead and help them. Tapping near a substituted word; for example, they say "the" instead of "there," they will easily notice what they did wrong. I only tap twice for each mistake. Do NOT over emphasize the taps as that will be just as intimidating, if not more so, than you verbally correcting them all the time!
It's much nicer for your child to hear only their own voice while reading. When you vocalize his/her mistakes, it feels like they are making many more mistakes than if you just quietly tap and allow them to correct themselves.
Happy Reading and Happy Halloween, as I won't be posting again until November.
Doreese
