How do children learn to read?
Good question... and much of the research on early literacy indicates 5 components, or skills, that a child needs in order to grow to be a good reader. All of this information can be found at www.reading.oregon.edu. Let's take a look at the first skill:
Phonemic Awareness
Forget letters for the moment. Even before a child learns that the fun song they are trying to sing is actually the 26 letters of our alphabet, they need to understand sounds. Having Phonemic Awareness means that a person is able to understand the basic sounds that make up the words in our language. For example, we know that the word "mat" consists of three different sounds: /m/ /a/ /t/. We don't even have to know the names of these letters to know the sounds they are making in this word. To a toddler, this word is one sound. Mat. It is difficult for very young children to grasp the concept that there are different sounds making up that one little word. Each sound is called a phoneme, and being aware of the different phonemes, or sounds, in words is critical in the beginning stages of learning how to read. Children should begin gaining phonemic awareness in preschool. By having your child listen to different sounds, alliteration, and rhyming, they will develop a good base of knowledge in isolating sounds in words.
[Remember to take a look at the materials section for building phonemic awareness skills with your child.]
Alphabetic Principle
This second skill involves learning to recognize that all those weird squiggly lines are called letters, and that they all mean something when written. Simply put, alphabetic understanding is an understanding that letters represent sounds in words. This can be challenging for kids, and not only do they have to know 52 separate shapes (uppercase and lowercase!), they are also learning that numbers have their own shapes, too. And I don't know about you, but lowercase 'b' 'd''p' and 'q' tend to look PRETTY similar. Especially when typed. Also, that 'E' kinda looks like a backwards '3.' And you never know, maybe that '5' really is just an 'S' without it's upper curve...
As kids begin to recognize letters and can tell the difference between them (and even start to know their sounds), they start to understand the process of blending, or Phonological Recoding. This means that letter sounds can be blended together and knowledge of letter-sound associations can be used to read and decode words. Take the word "mat" again. As children begin to understand that sounds blend together, they can go from recognzing the word 'mat' as /m/ /a/ /t/ to "mmmmaaaaaaaat." When they can blend the sounds they are reading, they can read (or decode) the word.
Teaching letters and teaching children to associate those letters with sounds (alphabetic principle) helps children to become better readers. The primary difference between good and poor readers is their ability to use letter-sound correspondences to decode words. If a child does not know the sounds of some letters, that child will have a difficult time sounding out words, resulting in difficulties in reading and comprehension. Children begin to gain alphabetic understanding in preschool (and even before) when they become familiar with the alphabet. Towards the end of preschool and into Kindergarten, they should start to associate sounds with individual letters. Kids also begin to blend sounds and can even recognize some words by sight. By 1st grade, chlidren should be able to say the sounds of all the individual letters, decode nonsense words fluently (like 'guk' and 'sab'), and read grade level material accurately (and be able to understand what they are reading). This is also where children begin to learn our language 'rules,' such as: an 'e' after a consonant makes the vowel before that consonant sound different, as in 'vot' and 'vote.'
Fluency
This is the next skill that begins to develop as young readers begin to automatically and accurately decode words. Teaching accurcay in decoding words should come first before fluency can be taught and/or expected. Readers who can read fluently comprehend more of what they are reading.
Vocabulary
It is so important that a child be given as many resources as possible in order to build his/her vocabulary. Being able to recognize and know a variety of words is a key step in not only gaining a better handle on fluency in reading, but also in being able to comprehend what is being read.
Comprehension
Comprehension is a powerful tool when it comes to reading. When a child can understand the message of the letters and words he/she is reading, school suddenly becomes a less intimidating place to be. When a child comprehends written words and sentences, they are not only able to read and understand notes on the chalkboard, they can understand directions on tests and assignments, understand what the questions are asking on these tests and assignments, understand their notes and textbooks and are better able to study. Children who can comprehend what they are reading are better able to enjoy a book, understand posters and signs, as well as countless other things that we take for ganted every day. Comprehension is HUGE when it comes to being successful in the classroom.
Phonemic Awareness
Forget letters for the moment. Even before a child learns that the fun song they are trying to sing is actually the 26 letters of our alphabet, they need to understand sounds. Having Phonemic Awareness means that a person is able to understand the basic sounds that make up the words in our language. For example, we know that the word "mat" consists of three different sounds: /m/ /a/ /t/. We don't even have to know the names of these letters to know the sounds they are making in this word. To a toddler, this word is one sound. Mat. It is difficult for very young children to grasp the concept that there are different sounds making up that one little word. Each sound is called a phoneme, and being aware of the different phonemes, or sounds, in words is critical in the beginning stages of learning how to read. Children should begin gaining phonemic awareness in preschool. By having your child listen to different sounds, alliteration, and rhyming, they will develop a good base of knowledge in isolating sounds in words.
[Remember to take a look at the materials section for building phonemic awareness skills with your child.]
Alphabetic Principle
This second skill involves learning to recognize that all those weird squiggly lines are called letters, and that they all mean something when written. Simply put, alphabetic understanding is an understanding that letters represent sounds in words. This can be challenging for kids, and not only do they have to know 52 separate shapes (uppercase and lowercase!), they are also learning that numbers have their own shapes, too. And I don't know about you, but lowercase 'b' 'd''p' and 'q' tend to look PRETTY similar. Especially when typed. Also, that 'E' kinda looks like a backwards '3.' And you never know, maybe that '5' really is just an 'S' without it's upper curve...
As kids begin to recognize letters and can tell the difference between them (and even start to know their sounds), they start to understand the process of blending, or Phonological Recoding. This means that letter sounds can be blended together and knowledge of letter-sound associations can be used to read and decode words. Take the word "mat" again. As children begin to understand that sounds blend together, they can go from recognzing the word 'mat' as /m/ /a/ /t/ to "mmmmaaaaaaaat." When they can blend the sounds they are reading, they can read (or decode) the word.
Teaching letters and teaching children to associate those letters with sounds (alphabetic principle) helps children to become better readers. The primary difference between good and poor readers is their ability to use letter-sound correspondences to decode words. If a child does not know the sounds of some letters, that child will have a difficult time sounding out words, resulting in difficulties in reading and comprehension. Children begin to gain alphabetic understanding in preschool (and even before) when they become familiar with the alphabet. Towards the end of preschool and into Kindergarten, they should start to associate sounds with individual letters. Kids also begin to blend sounds and can even recognize some words by sight. By 1st grade, chlidren should be able to say the sounds of all the individual letters, decode nonsense words fluently (like 'guk' and 'sab'), and read grade level material accurately (and be able to understand what they are reading). This is also where children begin to learn our language 'rules,' such as: an 'e' after a consonant makes the vowel before that consonant sound different, as in 'vot' and 'vote.'
Fluency
This is the next skill that begins to develop as young readers begin to automatically and accurately decode words. Teaching accurcay in decoding words should come first before fluency can be taught and/or expected. Readers who can read fluently comprehend more of what they are reading.
Vocabulary
It is so important that a child be given as many resources as possible in order to build his/her vocabulary. Being able to recognize and know a variety of words is a key step in not only gaining a better handle on fluency in reading, but also in being able to comprehend what is being read.
Comprehension
Comprehension is a powerful tool when it comes to reading. When a child can understand the message of the letters and words he/she is reading, school suddenly becomes a less intimidating place to be. When a child comprehends written words and sentences, they are not only able to read and understand notes on the chalkboard, they can understand directions on tests and assignments, understand what the questions are asking on these tests and assignments, understand their notes and textbooks and are better able to study. Children who can comprehend what they are reading are better able to enjoy a book, understand posters and signs, as well as countless other things that we take for ganted every day. Comprehension is HUGE when it comes to being successful in the classroom.