Teach Your Child To Read

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“There is little reason for a child to be bored n school simply because he or she can read. In most grad 1 classrooms, much of the day is given over to matters that appeal to all children. The atmosphere is often club-like, and peer relationship and social skills get a lot of attention. There might be morning exercises, health, safety, art, nature studies, crafts, videos, show and tell, story time, game time, music, and any number of other activities the teacher thinks important.

On the other hand, if a child enters a grade 1 classroom where the emphasis is on reading, printing, and arithmetic (bearing in mind that no two grade 1 classrooms are identical), the teacher might divide the class into groups. The advanced children (the readers) will form their own group, average children will form another, and children needed special attention will form a third. It is these last chilrden who are most vulnerable to boredom; finding the work difficult, they often fall behind and lose interest.

There are several reasons why children might be bored in school, but children who can read probably have less reason than others for being bored. They can read books while their classmates are learning how to (possibly by a difficult and confusing method). And if the advanced children ever find the work unchallenging the teacher can give them enrichment materials.

But let’s suppose – let’s just suppose -  that a reading child draws a grade 1 teacher too lacking in spirit to provide stimulating work for the youngster. Would we want to withhold a child’s preschool education and intellectural advancement simply so he or she will fit in comfortably with a worst-case scenario teacher? If the teacher is too lacking in enterprise to deal appropriately with a child who can already read, it may be a tedious and unproductive year for the entire class.”

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There is a lot of debate which method is better: sight reading or phonics. Another question that many parents have is whether to teach letter sounds or letter names, or both at the same time.

I have to say I tried both sight and phonics, and I found that phonics is soo much easier. However, when I started teaching my son letters, I only taught him letter sounds – I did not want to confuse him by teaching him both, and I thought that just knowing the sounds will make it easier for him to start reading on his own. Turns out I could have taught him both at the same time.

The following article discusses some viewpoints on how to teach children to read. There is no point to reinvent the wheel – the best way is to learn from teachers’ and other parents’ experiences.

Teach your child to read: teaching letter sounds versus names

Teaching Letter Names and Sounds

By: ChildrenLearningReading.com.

So, you want to teach your child to read, but before a child can learn to read, he or she must first learn at least some of the letters in the alphabet, their names, and the sounds that they represent. To be able to read, a child must be able to recognize the letters, know the sound of the letters, and be able to recognize the letters quickly and say the sound without hesitation. There is plenty of discussion and disagreement on whether it’s better to teach children using whole language programs or using methods which incorporate phonics and phonemic awareness instructions. I think the debate on this is settled when the National Reading Panel stated from their findings of reviewing over 1,900 studies that phonics and phonemic awareness produces superior reading results than whole language programs.

There is also some debate on whether to teach your child only letter names, or only the sounds which the letters represent. However, studies have also settled this debate by finding that teaching a child alphabet names and sounds together produces the best results. In fact, studies have found that there is little value in teaching preschoolers letter forms or letter sounds separately. This was indicated by an Australian study involving 76 preschool children.

The children received 6 weeks of training in either letter awareness, phonemic awareness, or control tasks, and then received another 6 weeks of training in either letter-sound correspondence or control tasks. The study found that training in either phoneme or letter awareness assisted with learning of letter-sound correspondences, and that the phonemically trained children group had an advantage on recognition tasks. The study found that there is little value in training in letter form or letter sounds separately. [1]

As you can see, there is basically no point in only teaching either the names of the alphabet letters, or the sounds the letters make. A child must learn the name and the sound of the alphabet letter. When teaching your child the alphabet, instead of simply teaching them the name of the alphabet such as “this is the letter A”, teach them like so:

“This is the letter A, and the letter A makes the /A/ sound.” (note: the /A/ denote the sound “A” makes, and not its name). Similarly, you can teach your child the other alphabet letters in this way including both name and sound of the letter. This is the way I teach my children the alphabet letters. Other studies have also determined that teaching the letter names and sounds together helped children learn.

58 preschool children were randomly assigned to receive instructions in letter names and sounds, letter sound only, or numbers (control group). The results of this study are consistent with past research results in that it found children receiving letter name and sound instruction were most likely to learn the sounds of letters whose names included cues to their sounds. [2]

To be able to effectively teach your children the sounds of letters, you must first master the proper pronunciation of the letters yourself. It is critical for you as a parent to be able to first say the sounds of the letters correctly before teaching your children, and this is much tougher than it may seem.

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Notes:

1. J Exp Child Psychol. 2009 Sep;104(1):68-88. Epub 2009 Mar 5.
The genesis of reading ability: what helps children learn letter-sound correspondences?
Castles A, Coltheart M, Wilson K, Valpied J, Wedgwood J.
Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia.

2. J Exp Child Psychol. 2010 Apr;105(4):324-44. Epub 2010 Jan 25.
Learning letter names and sounds: effects of instruction, letter type, and phonological processing skill.
Piasta SB, Wagner RK.
Preschool Language and Literacy Lab, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions?

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Like most parents who are getting actively involved in their children’s education from the start, you are most likely wondering  what’s the best way to  to help and encourage your child as he or she learns to read.  Parents are busy people, so why waste time on methods that are time consuming and mostly ineffective? Below you will find a summary of one of the most comprehensive study on how children learn reading conducted by a National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

The report, along with more information about the National Reading Panel, is available at the panel’s website, http://www.nationalreadingpanel.org.

Combination of Teaching Phonics, Word Sounds, Giving Feedback on Oral Reading Most Effective Way to Teach Reading

In the largest, most comprehensive evidenced-based review ever conducted of research on how children learn reading, a Congressionally mandated independent panel has concluded that the most effective way to teach children to read is through instruction that includes a combination of methods.

The panel determined that effective reading instruction includes teaching children to break apart and manipulate the sounds in words (phonemic awareness), teaching them that these sounds are represented by letters of the alphabet which can then be blended together to form words (phonics), having them practice what they’ve learned by reading aloud with guidance

The panel’s review focused on the following areas: alphabetic (phonemic awareness and phonics instruction), reading fluency, reading comprehension, teacher education, and computer technology.

Phonemic awareness is knowledge that spoken words are made up of tiny segments of sound, referred to as phonemes. For example, the words “go” and “she” each consists of two phonemes. Phonemic awareness is often confused with phonics, which refers to the process of linking these sounds to the symbols that stand for them, the letters of the alphabet. A comprehensive explanation of these two concepts is available in the NICHD publication, Understanding Why Children Succeed or Fail at Reading.

The panel found that the research conducted to date strongly supports the concept that explicitly and systematically teaching children to manipulate phonemes significantly improves children’s reading and spelling abilities. The evidence for this is so clear cut that this method should be an important component of classroom reading instruction.

The panel also concluded that the research literature provides solid evidence that phonics instruction produces significant benefits for children from kindergarten through 6th grade and for children having difficulties learning to read. The greatest improvements in reading were seen from systematic phonics instruction. This type of phonics instruction consists of teaching a planned sequence of phonics elements, rather than highlighting elements as they happen to appear in a text. Here again, the evidence was so strong that the panel concluded that systematic phonics instruction is appropriate for routine classroom instruction.

For children with learning disabilities and children who are low achievers, systematic phonics instruction, combined with synthetic phonics instruction produced the greatest gains. Synthetic phonics instruction consists of teaching students to explicitly convert letters into phonemes and then blend the phonemes to form words. Moreover, systematic synthetic phonics instruction was significantly more effective in improving the reading skills of children from low socioeconomic levels. Across all grade levels, systematic synthetic phonics instruction improved the ability of good readers to spell.

The panel noted that, because children vary in reading ability and vary in the skills they bring to the classroom, no single approach to teaching phonics could be used in all cases. For this reason, it is important to train teachers in the different kinds of approaches to teaching phonics and in how to tailor these approaches to particular groups of students.

The panel also concluded that guided oral reading is important for developing reading fluency-the ability to read with efficiency and ease. In guided oral reading, students read out loud, to either a parent, teacher or other student, who corrects their mistakes and provides them with other feedback. Specifically, guided oral reading helped students across a wide range of grade levels to learn to recognize new words, helped them to read accurately and easily, and helped them to comprehend what they read.

By contrast, the panel was unable to determine from the research whether reading silently to oneself helped to improve reading fluency.

Source: National Reading Panel Reports Combination of Teaching Phonics, Word Sounds, Giving Feedback on Oral Reading Most Effective Way to Teach Reading

Source: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: an evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. Download the entire report at http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/nrp/report.cfm

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T requires some basic knowledge of reading methods and some learning supplies: letter shapes, books, magazines, etc. that the child can use to explore the world of reading.

However, there are also some other things that are required to make the whole reading program a success.

Trinity Montecristo has some practical tips of what is involved.

Teach Your Child To Read – 5 Things You Need to Know to Be Successful

Most parents these days are very pro-active when it comes to their children’s education.

Many parents are so disillusioned by the school system that they are taking firm control of their child’s education; be it to home school their child completely, or simply to home school preschool their child before he or she enters the school system.

There are numerous benefits to teaching your child to read early. However, sometimes parents are at a loss as to what will be required of them when it comes down to it.

There are 5 things every parent should be aware of, and prepared for, when choosing to home school or preschool their child, in order for them to be guaranteed success. These 5 things are:

Teaching Your Kids To Read Tip #1: Make a Commitment

If you are like me, you are a busy parent, spouse and business person. You have to run a home, keep a job and do everything else in between! Whatever method you use to teach your child to read, you the parent must take the time to set it up and implement it. Also, you will be the one who will have to constantly motivate and encourage your child to keep at it. As long as you stay committed to the process, you have absolutely nothing to worry about.

Teach your children to read: Commitment, patience, dedication

Teaching Your Kids To Read Tip #2: Arm Yourself with Patience

You’re a parent. Need I say more? Patience comes standard with the job. If you didn’t have patience you’d have gone crazy a long time ago. Just remember that your child is learning a completely new concept. Just like learning to walk or talk, reading requires practice and repetition.

There will be days when you’ll feel like pulling out your hair because your child keeps forgetting the same word over and over again. Just remember this is how they learn and tomorrow you will be amazed at their progress.

Teaching Your Kids To Read Tip #3: Setting the Mood

As with most things you do with your child, being in the right mood is important. Have you ever tried to get your child to pack away his or her toys in the middle of their favorite TV show? Then you have surely witnessed the start of World War III!

Make sure that when you begin to teach your child to read, both you and your child are in the mood for their reading lesson. If either you or your child is feeling sick or grumpy or irritable, there is absolutely no harm done in skipping that lesson. It is better to wait for when you are both feeling better. Not only will this save you a lot of time and aggravation, what you absolutely don’t want to do is create an environment where your child begins to resent reading. Remember, reading is fun. It’s fun for you to teach your child to read and it’s fun for your child to learn to read.

Teaching Your Kids To Read Tip #4: Time and Setting

As parents, we all know that children are creatures of habit. If when you begin to teach your child to read you ensure that you have a time and place dedicated towards your child’s reading, you set up a comfortable routine for them and they will settle in and respond favorably to their reading lesson. Also, by being consistent, you show your child that they are important to you and so is their reading success, and they in turn will go out of their way to impress you. So, be prepared to be impressed!

Teaching Your Kids To Read Tip #5: Consistency and discipline

Of course, like with all things the time will come that, once your child gets the hang of it, they will almost certainly begin to get bored. Their confidence will grow and they will think that they don’t have to do the same things over and over again.

You, the parent must be prepared for this and be a step ahead of your child. Consistency and repetition is the key to success, so being disciplined (especially when you are home schooling your child and are in it for the long haul), and consistent about the whole thing is the key.

Home schooling or home school preschooling your child doesn’t need to be a chore. Do your research, find the right tools, follow the guidelines listed above and enjoy the journey.

Trinity specializes in home school and home school preschool reading. If you want a method to teach your child to read EASILY and FAST, you can find out more about our wonderful reading system, “Teach Your Child To Read & Reading with Phonics” by visiting our website at: http://www.yourchildcanreadin30days.com

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Why not add to the conversation about teaching your child to read. Type your comments in the comment area below. Thanks!

I know a lot of parents who are teaching their child the alphabet and letter names, in the hopes that learning the alphabet will make learning to read easy.

These parents are often not aware how teaching a child how to sound out words is different than teaching how to spell a word, and that the first method will produce faster and easier results for the child.

Here is a good video on how to sound out words when teaching a child to read:

Teaching Reading: Phonics Lessons – Sounding Out Words

Questions? Comments? Suggestions?

Why not add to the conversation about teaching your child to read. Type your comments in the comment area below. Thanks!