'Once upon a time...': Reading development and your child
Dear Parents,
For some children, reading comes as easy as walking, but for others it's a long and strenuous process. There can be many reasons a child has difficulty reading. It can be based on differences in brain activity, environment of reading, or even the content of what is being read. There are three main building blocks of reading; knowing the sounds, knowing the letters, and knowing the meaning of words.
Sounding out words is a large part of reading, especially for words that are unfamiliar. This process involves recognizing the letters, adding the sound that go with them, then finally, understand the meaning of the word. Since this process has multiple steps and takes some mental effort, it causes reading to be slower.
Some words that we read are recognized immediately and we know what they mean and how to pronounce them. This type of reading is known as sight word reading and relies heavily on memory. In order to remember these types of words, we need to know the sounds that make up the word, the letters in the word, and the rules of combining letters in English. The more words children can read from memory, the faster they will read and focus more of their attention on the meanings of words.
You might think that the process of sounding out comes before the ability to read sight words. However, children first learn to read by recognizing familiar words and knowing how they are said. It is not until children have some knowledge of letters and their sounds that they begin to break down unfamiliar words and sound them out. The two processes are used together to further develop children's reading skills. Over time, reading becomes faster as children learn new words and their associated spellings.
Try these tips when helping your child develop their early reading skills:
-Let them decide what book to read. This will allow them to pick a book they find interesting and be more motivated to read.
-Read a variety of materials, including grocery lists, directions, labels, newpapers, magazines, etc.
-Finding the right book for your child's reading level can be challenging. Open a page in the book, if your child comes to about 4 words they don't know this book may be too hard. Either you can read it to them, or find a book that might be less challenging for them.
-Read books several times. This will help your child read more quickly and become more accurate.
-When your child makes a reading error, gently correct them, either by directly pointing out the error or saying the sentence back to them as an indirect way of correcting them.
-Take turns when reading. This will make the task of reading an entire book on their own a little less daunting and more fun.
-Reading with your child is important! By reading together, you may help them sound out particular words and can provide positive feedback when they attempt to read.
-Don't be afraid to teach new, more complex vocabulary. Improving the child's vocabulary will help with reading development.
Great Online resources for reading:
-www.readingrockets.org
-www.progressivephonics.com
-http://www.sickkids.ca/empower/Programs/index.html
-http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/balancedliteracydiet/Home/
-http://www.scholastic.com/home/
Resources:
Ehri, L. C. (2014). Orthographic mapping in the acquisition of sight word reading, spelling memory, and vocabulary learning. Scientific Studies of Reading, 18(1), 5-21.
http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/developing-reading-skills/reading-tips-parents
http://www.readingrockets.org/article/finding-right-book-your-child