Kathy Stemke, the Educationtipster on Blogspot, recently called for an interview which you'll find posted on her blog. I always appreciate any opportunity to reach out and communicate to parents with children of all ages and certainly do this one.
What are your views on the various techniques for teaching reading?
How have they changed over the years?
What's most effective with children who have reading difficulties?
I certainly won't offer an entirely comprehensive answer here but enough to get you started and heighten understanding.
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TEACHING READING
One of the wisest people in reading research today (Dr. Richard Allington) tells us that "there are many roads to reading". One size does not fit all. Different individuals come to reading through different mechanics. And reading is a multi-level complex set of skills rather than just one so it takes years to reach true competency. Part of the importance of partnerships between school and home is decyphering those needs and addressing them as needed with each individual youngster.
Children need to understand the alphabetic principal early on (knowledge of letters and shapes, their understanding that print has unique meaning and that letters represent sounds in our spoken language). As they gain the connection between letters and sounds, they now have the beginning tool to figure out the squiggles on the page. There is an excellent explanation of this part of reading on Reading Rockets in their First Year Teacher segment and it's devoid enough of education lingo to be of value to non-educator parents.
It Starts Long Before . . .
The truth is that the strongest readers are created from day one in a cocoon of language and experience with print. As I've often said, that doesn't mean creating a structured academic hothouse at home. It doesn't mean buying workbooks and sitting your 4-7 year old down at the table to work. It means experiencing literacy in all its forms in our world. If we could just get that right at the beginning, are consistent (just as we are in giving our children good nutrition or adequate exercise), and combine it with strong phonics instruction, we would virtually eliminate reading difficulties by first or second grade.
So my message to parents is always, "be the commercial for reading". Show children how interesting, how much fun reading is and, as Bob Keeshan AKA Captain Kangaroo says (I'm showing my age), "They will follow as the night follows the day." Read in front of them (not just novels, cereal boxes, street signs, bill board
7 Comments on Secrets Parents Need to Know About Beginning Reading, last added: 3/28/2010
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What a great article. I love the comment about the cocoon of language. It is exactly what I believe makes good readers.
http://www.readingfrombirth.com
Regards Julie Ashton Townsend
http://www.julieashtontownsend.com
Jewels, so glad to hear from you. I"m going to check out your website very soon. I like the "reading from birth" concept as long as you aren't talking about forcing children to learn to read conventionally before they are at their prime time. We've gone way off the deep end there.
Great article, Cathy. Thanks for answering the question in such depth.
You did a great job here. I haven't bought your book yet. This post makes me think I should. I'd like to share a post of mine with your readers showing how my three children learned to read differently. http://beginningreadinghelp.blogspot.com/2010/02/my-daughters-path-to-reading.html
I completely agree that teachers and parents must use what a child knows to teach what a child is learning. For example: If a child is learning to blend sounds, make sure the child knows the sounds he/she is blending.
Michelle,
Thanks! I posted a comment on your blog. If those of use who understand these "secrets" share them with others, we will be adding to "the revolution" that is so necessary: families being involved in their children's literacy development AND families and teachers having authentic, two-way partnerships to help children succeed.
I heard that you need to read about 500 hours to your child as a baseline to helping them to read. I guess that is not hard if you read together every night since they are born.
Thank you for this article. I blog on phonics and how my kids learned to read at http://pragmaticmom.com
I do find that it's just like learning to walk... the early walkers are not necessarily Olympic Track Stars!
But it is so exciting when your child learns to read; my youngest is just starting to now. He's excited but easily fatigued and I'm thrilled but sad that this is the last time I'll experience this precious, exciting time of discovering how to unlock the words!
Pragmatic Mom
Pragmatic mom,
Thanks for posting a comment to Parents and Kids Reading Together. You are right to treasure the times with your own children (with those beginning readers, find great books that are just on their level so they can easily, successfully read and then books that are just delicious and require a little more effort. That will keep the "motivation button" on.
Also, it doesn't have to be your last because, with all your experience, I hope you'll find a child or children in your area who can use such a supporter.
I have a 20 year old and still get my fix regularly with little ones.