Is there anything, other than practice, I can do to encourage my son to stop mumbling? :lol: He talks wonderfully, but when he's reading aloud, he reads the first few words clearly and then drifts off to a mumble before reading silently. He's much faster at silent reading than oral reading, so I think that's the issue. He gets "into" what he's reading and forgets that his mouth is supposed to be moving. I think he's playing the "can't walk and chew gum at the same time" game in his mind. The problem is that he really WANTS to do better (especially after seeing himself on video), because he wants to get good enough to read in front of the church. :? Something like that would make anyone nervous, so it would be nice if he could concentrate on something other than his speech ability while he's up there in front of 250 people. :roll:
I think read aloud skills just come with time and practice. It sounds like your ds is reading much faster than his mouth can keep up. I'd consider maybe doing Readers Theater. It is mostly reading, but you are acting at the same time so he would learn to put expression and emphasis into his reading that way.
How about reading stories to little bro? Again encouraging him to use excitment and inflection in his voice. That way it's like he's telling the story to someone, and there is purpose.
i really like to idea of reading stories to a younger sibling for two reasons. One, it is usually easier reading when reading to someone younger so you don't have to work as hard on the reading. Two it gives him a chance to play with it, use different voices for different characters, putting emotion into the story etc. Another thought involves breathing. Does he take a breath before he starts a sentence or does he just start? If you don't take a breath first you tend to trail off as you run out of air in your lungs.
Good points! I haven't noticed his breathing, so I'll have to pay attention next time and see. (I should've thought of that... I'm a musician. LOL!) Reading to little brother doesn't work. They fight over the book. ROFL!!! Tried that MANY times!
I taught a public speaking class in a co-op and in 4-H. Public speaking takes alot of practice (for MOST people - I had 2 kids that were "naturals" - but they still improved with practice.) Most people do read faster silently than they do aloud and it also takes practice to learn to slow down and speak up when reading aloud. Teach him to speak up, to annunciate words and to use voice inflection on short things he's memorized. Nursery rhymes, short verses, short poems, or things he has written. You said he wants to be able to read in front of the church...maybe a few short memorized verses that he's had plenty of time to practice would be a good start. I've found that kids tend to to better on their "delivery skills" when they have what they are going to say memorized. Best wishes!
Have you tried hooking him up to a sound system with a microphone? Just the fact that he is holding something 'official' looking might remind him that he needs to speak clearly and out loud. Plus, kids love it I do think being able to speak in front of an audience is super important, and (in my case) the only way to be able to do that effectively is to DO IT.
