“Between the
ages of four and nine, your child will have to master some 100 phonics rules,
learn to recognize 3,000 words with just a glance, and develop a comfortable
reading speed approaching 100 words a minute. He must learn to combine words on
the page with a half-dozen squiggles called punctuation into something – a
voice or image in his mind that gives back meaning.” (Paul Kropp,
1996)
Through play and interaction, children learn how
to talk, listen, read, and write. At the same time as they are gaining
listening and speaking skills, young children are learning about reading and
writing. Listen to a story, then talking with their family, teachers,
and each other about the plot, characters, what might happen next, and what
they liked about the book can help the child’s ability to read as they enjoy
read-aloud sessions. They learn that books can introduce people, places, and ideas
and describe familiar experiences. Listening and talking helps children build
their vocabularies. They have fun while learning basic literacy concepts such
as: print is spoken words that are written down, print carries meaning, and we
read from left to right, from the top to the bottom of a page, and from the
front to the back of a book. Also, reciting rhyming poems introduced by
a parent, teacher, etc. and making up new rhymes on their own creates awareness
of phonemes to children which are the smallest units of sounds that make up
words. This awareness leads to reading and writing success.
Research has shown that phonemic awareness is the best predictor of early readying skills. Phonemes, the smallest units of sounds, forms syllables, and words made up of syllables. Children who understand that spoken language is made up of discrete sounds - phonemes and syllable - find it easier to learn to read. To learn to read English, the child must figure our the relationship between sounds and letters. Therefore, the beginning reader must learn the connections between the approximately 44 sounds of spoken English (phonemes) and the 26 letters of the alphabet. If children cannot perceive the sounds in spoken words (for example, if they cannot "hear" the 'at' sounds in 'fat' and 'cat') and percieve that the difference lies in the first sound, they will have difficulty decoding or "sounding out" words in a rapid and accurate fashion. As well as this, the development of these critical early reading-related skills, such as phoneme awareness and phonics, are fostered when children read at home and during the preschool years, when they learn their letter and number names, and when they are introduced at very early ages to concepts of print and literacy activities, In addition to learning how to "sound out" new and/or unfamiliar words, the beginning reader must eventually become proficient in reading at a fast pace larger units of print such as syllable patterns, meaningful roots, suffixes and whole words.
An
effective reading program
From long-term studies conducted by the National Institutes of Health, it is known that an effective reading program should include the following components:
- Recognize
that students learn to read in a certain order: first they must understand that
words are made up of different sounds, then associate sounds with written
words, and finally they can decode words and read groups of words
- Students who have trouble learning to
read need to be specifically taught the relationships of letters, words and
sounds. (Awareness of letter/sound relationships is the main tool good readers
use to decode unfamiliar words)
- Each
child needs a different amount of practice to be a fluent reader
- Phonics
instruction should be based on individual student needs and taught as part of a
comprehensive, literature-based reading program
- Abundant
opportunities for children to read at their own reading level help them to
learn to read for meaning and enjoy reading
- Highly
trained teachers can help children develop good, overall literacy skills: good
vocabularies, knowledge of correct syntax and spelling, reasoning skills and
questioning skills
Reading
Schemes
Primary school have a range of reading schemes to choose from. The most popular are Oxford Reading Tree, Collins Big Cat and Rigby Star. But other schemes are also used, such as Lighthouse, Storyworlds, New Reading 360, Ginn and New Way. Reading schemes are developed in conjunction with literacy experts. For example, Oxford Reading Tree is supported by Debbie Hepplewhite (creator of the synthetic phonics programme used in schools). Most schemes begin in the Foundation Stage and progressively become more difficult, for example, Key Stage 1 books are written with a mix of high-frequency and decodable words to develop a range of reading strategies. Key Stage 2 books cover a wide range of genres and subjects that link to the curriculum.
The number of books at each level depends on how much practice children need at that stage.
Children learn to read at their own pace, but as a guide, the most popular reading schemes are broke down as follows:
Oxford
Learning Tree: Stage 1 – 3.5 to 4.5 years, stage 1+ - 4.5 to 5 years, stage 2 –
4.5 to 5 years, stage 3 – 5 to 5.5 years, stage 4 – 5 to 5.5 years, stage 5 –
5.5 to 6 years, stage 6 – 6 to 6.5 years, stage 7 – 6.5 to 7 years, stage 8 – 7
to 7.5 years, stage 9 – 7.5 to 8 years
Collins
Big Cat, Rigby Star and Lighthouse: Reception - pink A/B, red A/B
Year 1 - yellow, blue, green
Year 2 - orange, turquoise, purple, gold, white, lime
