How To Help Your Child Excel In Reading And Writing: A Parent’s Guide To Elementary ELA Success

Ensuring that your child excels in ELA through elementary school can feel like an overwhelming challenge. Reading and writing skills are complex and take years of practice to master, but it doesn’t have to be a struggle!

By encouraging and motivating your child, doing consistent daily practice, engaging in focused discussion, and supporting them with homework, you can help your child succeed in every aspect of elementary school ELA.

1. Motivate your Child

The first step to success in grade school ELA is motivating your child. A self-motivated student is much more focused and engaged. They want to succeed and are willing to put in the effort necessary. Yet many children find reading and writing challenging. So how do you help them find that inner drive?

Express how important reading and writing are to you

Show enthusiasm for ELA in whatever way you can. Read to your child regularly. Share books you read and loved as a kid. Talk about the things you’ve written. Seeing that you value reading and writing will motivate your child to learn.

Note: Reading to your child is an excellent way to create positive associations with reading, but it should be separate from their independent reading practice.

Be patient with your child’s progress

Learning to read and write is challenging, even for the best students. Fear of failure or parental disapproval can kill their motivation.

Remind your child often that it’s okay to mess up. Making mistakes is an essential part of the learning process!

Take breaks if your child gets tired or frustrated. Splitting daily practice into multiple shortsessions is better than doing a marathon.

Offer encouragement and rewards for consistent effort

Positive feedback can give your child the confidence and motivation to keep trying until they get it right. This is especially true if they are struggling.

Verbal praise is often all it takes, but you can also offer physical rewards for milestones set and reached. A chart with stickers for completed assignments can help motivate your child by creating a visual representation of their progress.

Rewards may be small—a new book, a playdate with friends, or even a trip to the park—as long as they are something your child gets excited about.

Make reading and writing fun

Focus on what your child finds interesting. Do they enjoy science? Nature? Fantasy? Choose reading and writing topics that they love. If possible, make learning new skills into a game.

Check out the links below for free elementary reading and writing resources.

Writing exercises for elementary students: education.com
Fun reading activities for young students: readingrockets.org
Best books for elementary readers: k-12readinglist.com

2. Daily Reading Practice

Practice makes perfect, especially concerning complex skill sets like reading and writing! While your child will get practice every day at school, supplemental practice at home is highly beneficial. Daily reading practice helps

Improve fluency
Improve comprehension
Build confidence
Minimize skill regression over breaks and holidays

Depending on age and reading level, grade school students should read for a minimum of 15 to 30 minutes a day.

Create a routine to establish a daily reading habit. Have your child read at the same time every day, ensuring that they have a quiet and comfortable environment in which to do it.

Keep in mind that students in grades 1-2 require parental assistance to decode new words as they read. 3rd graders should be reading independently but may still need occasional support. Discuss your child’s support needs with their teacher before settling on a daily reading practice.

Finally, if your child struggles to read continuously for the assigned time, try splitting it into two or three shorter sessions throughout the day. Continuing to read when your child is tired or frustrated is counterproductive. Doing so undermines their motivation and confidence, potentially creating a negative association with the practice.

3. Discussion

Another key to boosting your child’s ELA skills is engaging them in discussions about their reading. This improves

comprehension
information retention
speaking skills
writing skills

The goal is to get your child thinking more deeply about the text. A spirited discussion with a parent also creates bonding and encourages positive associations with reading, which helps increase your child’s enthusiasm and motivation.

Discussion should be done at least three times a week. The more frequently, the better!

Reading Comprehension Questions and Tips

Ask your child questions about what they read (or what you read to them). As a general rule, avoid questions with yes/no answers. Stick to “how,” “why,” and “what” questions.

When your child gets stuck on a question, express your own opinions about the events and characters. Doing so provides an expanded perspective and models the thinking you want them to learn.

Discussion questions that support reading comprehension come in three main types:

summarizing
making inferences
synthesizing

Summarizing

Summarizing requires asking readers to put the story into their own words by “retelling” what they read. A good summary can be short and simple (including only the main events) or extremely detailed. Have your child do it both ways, alternating between the two.

Example summarizing questions:

What was the story about?
What are the main events?
What happened in the beginning/middle/end?
Tell me everything you can remember about what you read.

Making Inferences

Making inferences means using information from the text to draw conclusions or form opinions. This involves “filling in the blanks” through context clues and common sense.

Example inference questions:

Why do you think the main character did that?
How do you know?
What do you think will happen next? Why?

synthesizing

Synthesizing questions encourage readers to combine what they learned from a text with things they already know to create new thoughts, ideas, and opinions.

Example synthesizing questions:

What does the story remind you of from real life?
What does this story have in common with the last story you read?
What would you do differently in the main character’s situation? Why?

4. Daily Writing Practice

Pairing daily reading practice with daily writing practice is another essential way to help your child excel in ELA. Writing about what they read has similar benefits to discussion including increased comprehension and information retention.

Grade school students should write for about an hour a day, but because they do much of this writing in school or during homework, a supplemental daily practice of 15-30 minutes is usually sufficient.

First, provide your child with a notebook or journal specifically for their daily writing practice. Allowing them to choose a notebook with a colorful cover or to decorate it with stickers can create excitement and positive associations with writing.

Next, provide a writing topic that interests your child. Many grade school students have difficulty thinking of something to write without a prompt. Topics can be anything from “Tell me about your day” to “If you could have any superpower, what would you choose and why?”

1st and 2nd grade

First and Second-graders are just learning to write. Most can write 3-6 sentences in fifteen minutes with parental support. They will need help with

spelling
grammar
penmanship
composing single sentences

At this age, they cannot write independently. They may be unable to think up a sentence, and they will struggle to spell most words. For this reason, it’s beneficial to

provide them with a grade-appropriate writing workbook
have them copy words and sentences
have them compose sentences together with you

3rd Grade

Third graders are still beginning writers. Most can write 6-10 sentences in fifteen minutes. They should be able to compose simple sentences and spell many words correctly but need support with

grammar
vocabulary
sentence structure variety

At this age, they may or may not be able to write independently for fifteen minutes. Spelling and penmanship may still be a challenge, but they are old enough to sound words out phonetically and correct their work with moderate support.

4th and 5th Grade

Fourth and fifth graders are intermediate writers. Most can write 10-20 sentences in fifteen minutes. They can spell most words correctly and use a variety of sentence structures on their own.

At this age, they should be able to write for 15-30 minutes independently, but will still need assistance correcting grammar and spelling errors.

Note: If your child is resistant to writing or finds it especially difficult at any stage, try allowing them to do their daily writing without correcting their work. As long as they’re practicing daily, rest assured, they are improving their writing skills! Once they’ve gained some confidence, you can reintroduce correcting as a separate practice with a break in between.

5. Help with ELA Homework

Helping your child complete their homework is the final step in setting them up for success. If ELA curriculum for elementary students isn’t your strong suit, don’t worry! Here are some tips and tricks to get your child’s homework done right.

Find the Right Place

Make sure your child has an appropriate place to work. It should be quiet, well-lit, and free of distractions like

screens
toys
pets
siblings

For 1st-3rd graders, you will need to sit with them and be an active participant. For 4th and 5th graders, choose a spot nearby where you can observe and jump in when support is needed.

Follow a Schedule

Do homework at the same time and in the same place every day. This will help get your child into the correct mental space and impress upon them how important homework is.

Helping your child with organization and time management is also a crucial part of this process. At the beginning of each week, go over their upcoming assignments with them. Help them figure out when to do each one so they have time to complete everything without rushing.

Use a calendar or planner to help them keep track of everything. Before each homework session, bring out the calendar to review what needs to be done. Have them write their assignments in, and mark the time they need to complete them.

Note: While some 4th and 5th graders are capable, most grade school students require support to use a calendar/planner and manage their time effectively. Even older students will often miss assignments without a parent to remind them.

However, modeling this behavior consistently is the best way to teach your child organization and time management so they can do it independently later.

Help with Instructions

Once homework is underway, ensuring that your child understands and follows the instructions is half the battle! Here are some ways to help them with instructions.

Read the instructions aloud AND have your child read them aloud. Reading and listening use different parts of the brain. Doing both helps your child process the instructions more deeply.
Check for understanding. Ask, “What do you do first?” Many grade school children have difficulty remembering instructions for more than a few minutes, so guide them through completing their homework one step at a time.
Rephrase to clarify. If your child is still struggling to understand, try rephrasing the instructions. Ask if any words in the instructions are confusing. Sometimes using different words will help the meaning click.
Return to the instructions often. When they finish one step or start to flounder, point them back to the instructions. Ask, “Did you do the first part? What’s next?”
Always double-check that all instructions have been followed. When the assignment is complete, have your child review the instructions again. Ask, “Did you do everything?”
Let your child check their work first. Only point out mistakes if your child misses them. With repetition, they will start to remember the steps independently, spot mistakes easily, and eventually follow instructions independently.

Rely on Teachers

Sometimes you just won’t know how to help, or you won’t have the time. It’s ideal to communicate regularly with your child’s teacher throughout the school year.

Check in on your child’s progress often. The teacher should have helpful advice and resources to support your child with homework.

Finally, encourage your child to seek help from their teacher whenever they need it. Ask if your child’s teacher has time before or after school to review assignments and clarify homework.

When All Else Fails

If you’ve done all of the above and your child is still consistently struggling with ELA, it may be time to seek outside help. Consider having your child assessed for learning disabilities and/or hiring an experienced ELA tutor – contact us today to learn more about how our tutoring services can make a difference in your child’s academic journey.

Schedule My Consultation