Devices Are Pulling Our Kids Away from Books. Get Your Preschooler To Read.

By on November 27, 2017

Reading is meant to be an enjoyable undertaking.  For most people, reading is a daily task, done for pleasure or to acquire information.

An excellent reader reads effortlessly and easily understands what’s been read. For the good reader, a story is much more than words on a page. A written story comes alive, with all of one’s senses awakened by the images conveyed by way of printed word. Information is deciphered and becomes meaningful.  So how does the process of learning to read result in excellent reading skills? Reading research has identified essential components of reading instruction and the progression of skills a child needs to become an excellent reader. 

Reading begins with a child’s understanding of language, also known as phonological awareness. The sounds of language must be apparent to children as they begin to develop reading skills. Phonological awareness is not about written symbols for language, only the specific sounds of language. Some children may develop a keen awareness of the sounds of language with little effort, but these are skills that can and should be taught, usually in the preschool setting or at home. 

Developing readers must know that a spoken word has a specific meaning.  For example, a child must understand that the spoken word “cow” is a large farm animal with four legs and says “Moo,” etc., before he or she can understand that the written word “cow” symbolizes the same thing that the spoken word symbolizes. This concept is called word awareness. 

Emergent readers should also be able to rhyme words easily. They need to know that word endings can sound alike but the beginning sounds of words can change. Rhyming games are a natural and fun way for children to learn the sounds of language.  

Many spoken words are divided into parts called syllables, with different vowel sounds in each syllable. Children must have an awareness that words are spoken in syllables and can hear, for example, one syllable in “hot” and two syllables in “hotter.” 

Not only do children need to be aware that words have beginning and ending sounds or can be spoken in syllables, they must also have an awareness that words are made up of specific and individual sounds.  We seldom speak to children by articulating each unit of sound in a word (B – U – G), yet a developing reader needs to be able to hear all three individual sounds.   This skill is called phonemic awareness and is not the same as phonics. Children with phonemic awareness are able to manipulate, blend, and segment sounds in the words they hear. Phonemic awareness helps students learn to read and spell.  

Reading success would not be possible without knowing the 26 upper and lower case letters of the alphabet. Children should be able to name, recognize, and write both upper and lower case letters of the alphabet.  Children normally learn these skills in preschool and kindergarten. 

Mastery of phonics instruction is the key to decoding the printed word and is vital to learning to read and spell. Phonics teaches how the sounds of language (phonemes) relate to the written letters of language (graphemes). Phonics should be taught systematically. The major sounds and symbols should be taught in a clearly defined sequence. Phonics instruction includes consonants, blends (pl, fr, sm, etc.), short and long vowels, consonant and vowel digraphs (ch, sh, th, au, oi, aw, etc.), dipthongs (ai, aw, oy, etc.) and other sound-letter relationships (kn, gn, etc.). Kindergarten is the usual starting point for teaching phonics and may continue for another two or three years. Well-developed phonics skills ensure that reading is fluent and that text is understood.  Poorly developed phonics skills will likely result in poorly developed reading skills. If a child has not mastered the complete sequence of phonics skills, regardless of grade placement, it is sensible to continue with phonics instruction until phonics skills are mastered or greatly improved. However, bear in mind that phonics is only part of a complete reading program and is a means to an end. Research indicates that phonics instruction significantly benefits students in kindergarten through grade six and children having difficulty learning to read. Phonics skills build fluency skills, which can lead to development of comprehension skills. 

Listening to a fluent reader is like listening to an eloquent speaker. Text is read with expression in phrases and is pleasing to the listener. Well-developed fluency skills enhance reading comprehension. If a child’s reading is broken and labored, comprehending what has been read is unlikely. Fluency is a critical factor to successful reading. A fluent reader quickly and accurately decodes words, uses punctuation to create pauses and appropriate expression, and reads at a comfortable speed. 

Oral reading practice with guidance from adults or peers can help develop fluency skills.  Regular reading practice at the child’s independent reading level, which requires little or no help to successfully read, improves fluency. Teachers, parents, or other fluent readers who read aloud to students model fluency skills for developing readers. Children should read a rich variety of genre at developmentally appropriate levels. Reading scripts from plays also helps develop fluency skills. 

Reading comprehension is the whole point of reading. Understanding what’s been read improves when children can relate what they’ve read to experience or to some prior knowledge of the topic. Stopping along the way while reading, perhaps to fully imagine a scene, to smell the odors, see the colors, hear the sounds, or to comment on what someone looked like or how they felt, can enhance a child’s understanding and enjoyment of a story. Comparing the reader’s thoughts to the opinion of the writer or the character helps children get a vivid mental picture of what’s been read. Summarizing and retelling the story and sequence of events are some ways to help children comprehend. Readers with excellent comprehension skills think about what they’re reading and ask questions as they move through the text. Reading comprehension strategies can and should be taught. 

Students with rich vocabulary can make sense of what they’ve read. It stands to reason that children with poorly developed vocabulary will not have an easy time of understanding what they read, even though they mastered phonics and can efficiently decode words.  Second language learners with poorly developed vocabulary have difficulty understanding what they’ve read. To understand both the written and spoken word, children must have a strong oral vocabulary. Children may learn some word meanings incidentally, but word meanings and language concepts should be emphasized throughout a child’s development. Exposure to a variety of learning experiences in natural settings can potentially improve a child’s vocabulary. Parents can make an extra effort to be certain children learn words and their meanings as they experience new places and things. Talk to your child and enrich their language by exploring and experiencing your surroundings together.  Reading also provides many opportunities to expand vocabulary. 

Preparation for reading begins with language development. Parents who read with their children have a positive impact on their reading development and academic achievement.  When reading instruction includes development of phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, comprehension and vocabulary development, with ample reading practice, learning to read is a joyful experience for most children. Sometimes, students have all the essential components of good reading instruction in place, yet reading skills remain poorly developed.   An evaluation of a child’s reading performance by a qualified professional can help identify the source of the child’s difficulty, and then help parents and teachers find ways to effectively help the struggling reader. 

INFO

Some free online reading sources are provided for parents and teachers to enrich youngster’s reading experience.  Happy reading!

www.storylineonline.net

www.kids-and-games.com/stories.htm

www.rif.org/readingplanet/content/read_aloud_stories.mspx

www.bbc.co.uk/schools/laac/story/sbi.shtml

www.starfall.com

www.candlelightstories.com/soundstoryblog/SoundStoryBlog.html

www.storiestogrowby.com

www.dreamtime.net.au/dreaming/storylist.htm

 

Author Websites

www.robertmunsch.com/storytime.cfm

www.memfox.net/mem-reads-aloud/

Sources:

Klein, A.F. Providing differentiated reading instruction to meet the individual needs of students. Learning A-Z, Inc. (2009). Retrieved October 31, 2009 from www.readinga-z.com/research

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.  Retrieved November 4, 2009 from www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/nrp/smallbook.htm.

Reading A-Z.com Your Reading Resource Center. Retrieved October 31, 2009 from www.readinga-z.com/research

About Ann McKeever

Ann McKeever, M.A. has been a special educator, school counselor, school administrator, and educational diagnostician in the US public schools since 1976. She has lived in Tokyo for three years and worked with individual students.