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by Amy M. O’Quinn, Home School Specialist for the National Writing for Children Center

Teaching a child to read may seem like a mysterious process—whether the parent is the ‘main’ instructor or simply the home facilitator helping out during after-school hours. We all want our children to learn to read well, because we know that good literacy skills are critical for an excellent education and can open many windows of opportunity in life.

However, we should also realize that children learn to read in different ways and according to various time spans. I know from my own experience in teaching my six children to read that they have each mastered reading anywhere from the age of four to the age of seven—and that is okay. No two children are ever the same and their learning processes will vary. I have simply discovered that consistency is imperative when it comes to teaching a child to read. Patience and encouragement are also key elements in the process—for both the teacher and student!

The most important role we can play in our child’s reading journey is to make them feel successful. When tension mounts and frustration levels rise, perhaps it is time to back off just a bit, take a deep breath, regroup, and remember that this IS a process. Moreover, readiness is also a factor, so don’t worry—just keep moving forward. There is a balance between pushing too hard and challenging our children to take their skills up to the next level. However, as parents, we can normally discern between the two, and that’s why ‘reading’ our children is so important. We want the process to be enjoyable—yet we want them to use their abilities to the fullest! Concentrate on strengths, but consistently (and gently) guide them through their weaknesses as time and readiness permit.

Several factors contribute to successfully teaching children to read:

1. Read to them early and often. Talk with them about what you are reading. Research confirms that hearing language is an important part of learning to read.

2. Stock your shelves with ‘living’ books for all ages. Availability and immersion are important.

3. Repetition and consistency are vital for fluency. Confidence grows with mastery.

4. Model reading. When children see their parents reading, they get the message that books and reading are enjoyable. They will want to do the same. According to Jim Trelease in The Read-Aloud Handbook:

“In concentrating exclusively on teaching the child how to read, we have forgotten to teach him to want to read…Somehow we lost sight of the teaching precept: What you make a child love and desire is more important than what you make him learn.”

5. Remember that reading is a process, and children will learn and develop their skills at different rates. Try not to compare. Start where they are and build a foundation.

6. Find good resources and curriculum materials that work FOR YOU AND YOUR CHILD. Just because your friend’s child learned to read with ‘Product X’ doesn’t mean it is the right choice for you.

7. Fill your home with language, creativity, inspiration, and enthusiasm for learning.

from Dorit Sasson, Teaching Tips Contributing Editor

Teachers all across the US and abroad are trying to find the magic recipe for reading proficiency, but what often goes unnoticed is the listening vocabulary that needs to be built up from Day 1.

Kids spend 900 hours in school as opposed to 7,800 hours outside school annually. If teachers and parents expect their kids to be avid readers, they need to build what Jim Trelease, author of the Read-Aloud Handbook, refers to as “Listening Vocabulary,” which is made up of speaking vocabulary, reading vocabulary and writing vocabulary. Students will not become better readers by taking tests nor will at-risk or struggling students suddenly be motivated to read if their sole or partial source of information outside school comes from TV.

At the Usborne/EDC Publishing conference in Oklahoma last Saturday, (see the photo of Jim Trelease and me) Jim Trelease’s talk was called “Raising Readers Requires the Right Fertilizer in the Home.” He spoke of children as pleasure oriented human beings who are also sponges; they “soak up” everything we as adults say and do with the primary influence coming from parents. Teachers should bridge those “pleasure bridges” by building listening vocabulary through books and topics children enjoy reading. In fact, oral instruction is key for setting important groundwork for engaging students in what they read.

Children can’t say sounds, syllables, endings, blendings if they haven’t even heard them. Listening comprehension is reading comprehension. So it comes to no surprise, after hearing Jim Trelease, that the single MOST important activity for bridging the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children.

So start thinking of your son or daughter as that sponge in the kitchen sink. The language on TV is significantly lower than the language of books so we need to do everything in our power to build a child’s listening vocabulary. By age six, a child should be a veteran listener. And since reading is anaccrued skill, reading catches up with listening - that is if there was enough time for a child to listen to a read-aloud.