* Have your child read aloud to you every night.
* Choose a quiet place, free from distractions, for your child to do his nightly
reading assignments.
* As your child reads, point out spelling and sound patterns such as cat, pat,
hat.
* When your child reads aloud to you and makes a mistake, point out the
words she has missed and help her to read the word correctly.
* After your child has stopped to correct a word he has read, have him go
back and reread the entire sentence from the beginning to make sure he
understands what the sentence is saying.
* Ask your child to tell you in her own words what happened in a story.
* To check your child‘s understanding of what he is reading, occasionally
pause and ask your child questions about the characters and events in the
story.
* Ask your child why she thinks a character acted in a certain way and ask
your child to support her answer with information from the story.
* Before getting to the end of a story, ask your child what he thinks will
happen next and why.
I found these tips from No Child Left Behind: http://www2.ed.gov/parents/academic/involve/homework/homeworktips.pdf