What's the most important thing to do when helping a child learn to read?

Equip students with the tools to figure things out. 

Here's what to do:

• Read the pictures - Turn the pages in the book and see if they can tell the story just from the illustrations. 
• Make good predictions - Whether you’re reading the book, looking at pictures, or they’re reading the book, ask them to make predictions about what they think will happen next. 
• Think about what would make sense - The most important question you teach a child to ask is “did that make sense?”. That’s the fuel for critical thinking. 

Here’s what not to do:

• Don’t point to every word on a page and ask a student to sound each one out. This encourages them to read on one cylinder and discourages them from using other tools to make meaning from the text. 

Equip students with the tools to figure things out.

Why? Because good readers know they can solve problems. They don’t run from big words, or complex ideas. They believe in their ability to figure things out.