Posts Tagged "phonics reading program"

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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.

>> Click here to learn more about a simple program that will show you step-by-step how to effectively teach your child to read.

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?

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

W This is a popular question that parents ask about teaching their child to read, one with several answers.

First, teaching a young child (a preschooler) to read is so simple and so much fun that in most cases there just isn't any justification for delaying the task until grade 1. After all, parents don't delay teaching their children to speak until grade 1. Yet, learning to speak - which normally takes a year or two - is a much more difficult task for a child than learning to read.

As the celebrated mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead noted, "What an appalling task, the correlation of meaning with sounds." Speech is difficult. Reading is easy by comparison - when an easy and fun program of instruction is used.

Second, leaving a child's reading instruction ot the public school system is rather risky. The task of teaching twenty or more children - all with varying ability, intelligence and interests - is a difficult task for schoolteachers. What is more, the task is made even harder by the constant need for behavior modification: teaching children to sit still, pay attention, listen, and be quiet - is a continuing daily task for teachers that doesn't favor quick reading progress. Also, not all teachers have been taught what is essential and what is unessential to ensure quick literacy.

Reading provides a powerful form of nutrient for the young brain. A child who reads can find in books an intellectually rich environment populated by interesting and knowledgeable people, both fictional and real.

Read more on my I Teach My Child blog.