Helping Parents Help Their Children

Reading specialists are often besieged by calls from frantic parents. What can I do? My child is having trouble with . . . Many times, a long conversation follows in which, consistently, one fact emerges--the parent, genuinely concerned about the child\u27s protlem, wants to know something specific and concrete to do. We usually suggest the procedure of having the child\u27s ploblems diagnosed and followed up by prescriptive instruction, either in the classroom or through a clinic or tutor. Still, though, many parents are not satisfied. They feel very concerned about their child\u27s problems and Want to know about something they can do. For many parents, the best answer is nothing, but others are so emotionally involved that they need to know something concrete to do. What, then, are some techniques that the reading specialist can teach parents to do