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“Mommy, what’s this word?"  Miranda silently cringed.  That’s a question she never liked to hear, not because she was disappointed in her daughter’s reading, but because honestly, Miranda never knew how to answer it. Miranda enjoys reading time with her six year old daughter every night.  They either curl up on the couch or cuddle in bed with a book or Kindle in hand.   One night (this actually happens most nights) as Kelsey read along, she paused. "David! Be…" The word was, ‘quiet’ but Miranda didn’t just give her the word.  "Sound it out, Honey," she said encouragingly.  She smiled, pretty sure that was the right thing to say to a child stuck on a word.

"K-- k--, Mommy, I don't know this word."  Miranda was never sure what to do next when the sound-it-out trick didn't work.  How much help should she give her daughter?  Should she just give her the beginning of the word?  Should she make her work through it?  Maybe it would it be more beneficial to just tell her the word so she doesn't get too distracted from the story. 

 Unsure, Miranda suggested, “Do what Mrs. Lowry would have you do.”

If you feel like Miranda, you’re not alone.  Lots of parents have been in the same predicament.  The good news is there are strategies you can use to help your child decode unfamiliar words.  Below are some tips for what to do when your child gets stuck.  Encourage your child to:

 look at the pictures for clues to figure out what the word might be.

skip the word and read the rest of the sentence. Then go back to see what word would make sense in that space.

try sounding out just the beginning sound and ending sounds of the word. Often it is the vowels that stump the children, but if they hear the beginning and ending of a word, they are able to figure it out.

break the words into smaller parts.

see if it looks like another word he knows, perhaps a rhyming word.  For example, if your child knows the word jump, it will help him decode the word stump.

 And finally, after your child has stated what he thinks the word is, have him read  the whole sentence and ask, “Does that make sense?” He will either proudly say, “Yes,” or answer, “No,” and have to attempt a different decoding strategy. If your child tries all strategies and still has been unsuccessful decoding the word, it would be acceptable to tell him the word so he can continue with the story. If you find this is happening too often (more than five times in a small book, or 5 times on a page of a short chapter book), the book may be too difficult. It would be time to select a new book.