The major concern is with style of reading rather than accuracy. Usually, by the time it is apparent that a child needs some remedial reading, he has accumulated a number of poor reading habits and eye movements and has lost confidence, all of which produce inefficient reading patterns. He is apt to read word by word, and often that is accompanied by body rocking back and forth as he tries to force recognition and comprehension of each word as it comes along. One of the most important aspects of the N.I.M., as far as you are concerned, is to forget conventional reading approaches you may have heard of and think more in terms of exposing your child to a correct reading process. Even after the child's reading has speeded up considerably, word recognition will improve somewhat more slowly.
Word recognition can lag behind the functional reading process by a year to a year and a half.
Once your child has begun to read in newspapers and magazines at home voluntarily and has gained confidence in this new skill, he will make rapid strides in word recognition. This is done only a few minutes at a time, but probably should become a part of every reading session. As mentioned earlier, it is suggested that the child be started on material that is two to three grade levels below the child's actual grade level. But care must be taken not to spend too much time at the lower levels of the child's reading ability. One of the reasons for the success of the N.I. M. seems to be the enormous exposure readers have to words.