I often hear families say, "I don't allow my child to use the pictures. I want my child to read the words only." Sadly, when families do not allow the children to look at the pictures, they are denying their children access to a great decoding strategy. "Eagle Eye"
Books for early readers have pictures that match the text. For example, a book we are reading in some groups is called Maria Goes to School. This book is about a girl, Maria, who is getting her supplies ready for school. One page has a picture of Maria holding her pencils. The text on the page reads, "I get my pencils.". The children were able to read, "I get my" pretty easily; however, when they got to the word pencils they didn't know what it was or how to figure it out. So, they were encouraged to use "Eagle Eye" and look for picture clues. The children were so excited to find the pencils in the picture and be able to read that word on their own. You could hear the gasps as they proudly figured out that word using "Eagle Eye" on their own. They felt like readers, and they were so proud of themselves.
You can help your child at home by encouraging them to use the pictures for clues to solve unknown words. When a child comes to a word s/he does not know ask, "Is there something in the picture that might make sense in the sentence?"
Encouraging children to figure out words using decoding strategies helps build their confidence and helps them become a better readers.
