Parents and Reading Readiness –
Beyond the ABCs
I don’t think most parents have
a clue how important they are to their child’s early reading success. Reading
readiness begins from the moment your child is born – can you believe
it? Children absorb and begin to learn language from birth, even when they
are not yet communicating verbally. By the time children begin school, most of
their neural pathways for letter sounds may already be set!
Many parents will be thinking,
“But I’m not a teacher! Kids learn how to read when they get to school.”
True, they will most likely learn how to read once they begin their formal
education. However, reading readiness begins at home, and daycare, and
preschool, long before they ever begin kindergarten. During a child’s
emergent literacy stage – from birth through preschool years – children see and
interact with print in everyday situations, begin to recognize words that
rhyme, recognize logos and street signs, and can name some letters of the
alphabet.
Early experiences with talking
and listening prepare children to read and write, and build their vocabularies.
If a child doesn’t get enough of these early literacy experiences, he or she
will very likely end up struggling learning how to read in school. Prepare your
little ones by building phonological awareness, strengthening auditory skills,
and improving short term memory with the activity ideas below.
What should you do to prepare your child before Entering Kindergarten?
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Talk a lot – Talk to your child and respond
to questions as much as possible. It seems silly to have to say it, but many
households and cultures don’t encourage talking with young children, and this
can severely limit their vocabularies. Also, weak verbal and auditory abilities
make a child more likely to struggle learning how to read in school.
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Use new vocabulary – Resist the urge to only
use simple words you know your child knows – this limits their vocabulary! Use
new words and explain them when you are out and about, in a new setting, or
watching a show. For example, don’t call all of the primates at the zoo
monkeys, use the words gorilla, chimpanzee, and orangutan.
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Point out new things – Name objects, people,
traffic signs, and logos around you in your environment. Rattle off names of
different foods as you go through the grocery store. Play the “I Spy” game with
your child.
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Build phonological awareness –
Think of it as sound awareness. It’s your child’s ability to recognize that
words are made up of separate speech sounds. Seems like a no-brainer to an
adult, but this is something children don’t know automatically – they have to
learn it. Sing together, recite nursery rhymes, and play rhyming games. Make up
silly sentences or tongue twisters using alliteration, e.g. Silly Sally sells
seashells by the sea shore. If you play “I Spy,” instead of saying the name of
the object you want your child to find, say the first letter sound of the
object’s name (“I spy, with my little eye, something that starts with mmm” for McDonalds).
Point to an object, like a table, and say the first sound together, /t/.
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Teach letter sounds correctly– Yes,
I have letter sounds here, NOT the names of the
letters. Clearly hearing and identifying differences among spoken sounds is a
key component to reading development. Emphasizing the sounds the letters make will better prepare your child for sounding out
words with those letters later. Speak clearly when pronouncing and teaching
letter sounds. Try not to add extra sounds to the letters though, as this is a
common mistake that can really mess up your child’s perception of the letters.
Say /b/ not /buh/, and /mmm/ not /muh/. Also, keep in mind that many children
have trouble hearing the difference between short vowel sounds – (apple, elephant, igloo, octopus, umbrella),
so practice those a lot. Watch letter videos on the computer and play games
that have a sound component to them.
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Read to your child – Early exposure to books
can help your child’s early literacy development. Read and reread favorite picture
and story books. Visit the library or local bookstore. Establish a daily
reading time (ours was before bed). Read with expression and use different
voices for characters. Point to words and pictures as you read. Mix it up by
reading some non-fiction selections too, maybe information on a favorite animal
or sport. Remember, more books equal a larger vocabulary.
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Improve short term memory – Playing memory games
can help strengthen memory skills, another important component of the reading
process. Play Memory matching games, Simon Says, what is missing games, and
sing songs like “Bingo” or “Farmer in the Dell.”
When children can’t read there
is usually a good reason for it: they are unable to rhyme, don’t hear the
differences in letter sounds, can’t blend sounds together, or have a slow
recall of letter sounds. These auditory and memory deficits can often be
avoided with a strong literacy foundation in the first five years of life.
However, children with speech and language disorders, physical or mental
conditions, or other developmental disorders may experience problems learning
to read and write no matter how many language opportunities they are given
before they begin school.
Start your child’s reading
journey off right – pick up a book and get started today! Or go online and
check out the numerous resources available on the Internet. It’s not too
late to help them develop the skills they need to be a successful reader.
For any of assistance about learning disability in concern of your child you can mail us at:
counselling.ks@gmail.com
counselling.ks@gmail.com
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