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4Readers
are made, not born: How young children learn to read
Parent Spot for
Parents of Elementary School Students
Much of what you know as an adult comes from
reading –everything from novels and web pages to cereal boxes and
street signs. Yet what do you remember about how you learned to
use this powerful tool?
Similar to learning to ride a bike
or singing a new song, becoming a competent reader requires lots
of practice with a set of specific skills. Most of these skills
are acquired through direct instruction in the early elementary
years.
Reading instruction in schools
today is quite different today than it likely was when you were
taught to read. Following is a breakdown by grade level of some
typical activities that schools now use to help build your child’s
reading skills.
Kindergarten
– In the kindergarten classroom, you will not be at a loss where
to find things. This is because everything, from the soap dish to
the fish tank, has likely been labeled with its name. This is not
mere coincidence. It is one of the first ways that very young
children learn that written language can help them understand
their world.
At the kindergarten level, the main
emphasis is on helping children learn about the larger world that
they have entered and what schooling is all about. Much of the
kindergarten day is focused on helping children see that reading
and writing will play a significant role in their learning during
school.
A major goal of kindergarten is to
help children begin to believe in themselves as readers and
writers. To this end, children are given lots of opportunity to
"read" from a vast assortment of books filled with colorful
pictures or illustrations and to be read to by their teacher.
Through this, children begin to understand the parts of a book
(title, the name of the author and illustrator, the connection
between the pictures and words), and their functions. They also
learn how formal reading works (for pleasure, to inform) and to
recognize some simple words by sight (I, the, you, me).
Through socializing and playing,
children learn that language (both spoken and written) can be used
not only to communicate with their friends, but can help them work
through problems.
Grades one and
two – At this point,
children begin the more formal instruction of reading. Teachers
build on what children may already know about the basics of
reading (that reading is done from left to right, from the front
to the back of a book, that individual letters are made from
single letters). A large part of reading instruction at this level
centers on phonemic awareness, which is the ability to recognize
that our speech can be broken down into small sounds. Teachers use
activities with tools such as nursery rhymes, poetry and songs to
help students identify the sounds that different letters and
combinations of letters make. However, this is not done in
isolation. At each of the elementary grade levels, students are
provided access to a wide variety of books, magazines, multimedia
software, newspapers and other types of literature. These are used
for group work (i.e. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
might be used as a basis for a unit on caterpillars), for
independent work and pleasure reading.
Grades three,
four and five –
Although most children are considered competent readers by third
grade, the process of learning to read doesn’t stop here. In these
upper elementary years, the focus tends to shift from learning to
read to reading to learn. Students are given the opportunity to
use their reading skills to conduct research (with reference books
such as encyclopedias and textbooks, in literature and on the
Internet), to tackle more challenging books (in subject areas and
for pleasure) and to read other forms of written material with an
eye toward expanding their vocabularies and giving them greater
confidence in their skills as readers.
The home/school connection
Tips on what you can do at home to support family
literacy
Although most of your child’s formal reading
skills will be learned during school hours, the work that you do
at home to help support these skills is as important. Following
are some easy ways to make reading a family affair and to instill
a lifelong love of reading in your child.
-
Use the
library often. Encourage your child to ask the librarian for
help finding stories he’ll like. Make suggestions, but let him
check out what he wants to read.
-
Let your
child see both mom and dad reading and using the library.
Encourage your child to think of the library as a resource for
fun and learning throughout life.
-
If available,
enroll your child in a library reading club.
-
As her
reading skills improve, have her read to you, a sibling,
visitors, even a favorite stuffed animal. Some stories that
interest her may still be too hard for her to read on her own.
She’ll let you know if she would rather read with you or by
herself.
-
Look for ways
your child can use his new reading skills. Ask him to read
signs, menus, cereal boxes. Have him read to you while you do
the dishes or fix the pipes. Ask relatives to write postcards to
him. Put notes in his lunch box ("I hope you have a great day
today! Love, Mom.")
-
Set aside a
special read-aloud time for the whole family. There are many
books that all of the members of your family will enjoy. Ask
your librarian for suggestions and remember that many classics
like Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol were intended to be read
aloud. Have family members read different parts. Make a bowl of
popcorn, turn off the TV and enjoy!
-
Show your
children that you support their efforts. The National
Association for the Education of Young Children suggests that
you become the "Great Appreciator," not the "Great Corrector."
If your child makes a mistake while reading aloud to you, don’t
interrupt. If the mistake doesn’t change the meaning, let it go.
-
Make sure
that you read some of the books your children enjoy, even when
they can read well on their own. This is a great way of ensuring
that reading remains a pleasurable activity that you share with
your children.
Source: The
American Library Association and the National Association for the
Education of Young Children
Reading Resources for
Parents:
On the Net:
Reference
Books:
-
Choosing
Books for Children: A Commonsense Guide by Betsy Hearne
-
The New
York Times Parent’s Guide to the Best Books for Children by
Eden Ross Lipson
-
The
Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease
-
Hey!
Listen to This: Stories to Read Aloud by Jim Trelease
For permission to reprint
this article, please contact the Capital Region BOCES
Communications Service by e-mailing
dbushsuf@gw.neric.org.
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