Advantages of Teaching Children Reading Early
Advantages
of Teaching Children Reading Early
Advantages of Teaching Children Reading Early
Before
a child learns to read, he or she must first learn the spoken language, and
this is one of the first instances where family members such as dad, mom, older
siblings, and grandparents play an important role in "teaching" the
child the spoken English language. Whether young children realize it or not,
they gain very early exposure to the alphabet when parents sing the alphabet
song to them. They begin to develop language skills by being read to and spoken
to. One of the keys to teaching children reading early on is by exposing them
to alphabet letters, books, and reading to them often.
Reading
nursery rhymes and children's books are an important part of getting children
to understand printed text. Talk to your children, and talk to them often,
whether they understand or not is not important when they're just babies. The
more you talk and interact with your little ones, the better they will develop.
The key is exposure, and repeated exposure. Once your child learns to speak,
you can begin teaching them reading at home.
I
often hear parents say that they don't want to "push" their child too
hard. How can teaching your child to read at a young age be considered
"pushing" them too hard? If you as a parent already have the
mentality that reading is a chore, and teaching them to read is pushing
"too hard", you certainly can't expect your children to be excited
about learning reading. On the contrary, learning to read offers a young child
an opportunity for a lifetime to learn, discover, and enjoy the wonders of
reading. Parents (including myself) will often underestimate the abilities and
learning capabilities of young children. When we first began our teaching
reading program with our first child when she was 2 years and 8 months, little
did we expect that in just a few short weeks, she would be reading not just
words, but sentences and story books. After about 3 months, by the time she was
2 years 11 months old, our daughter could read "Step in to Reading - step
2 (pre-school to grade 1 level)" books with some guidance. The benefits of
learning to read were apparent - improved speech clarity, and better reading
ability and reading comprehension.
There
are no shortage of studies which find many benefits in teaching children
reading at an early age. For example, one study administered a Stanford
achievement test at the start of kindergarten and then again at the end of
grade one found that early language based skills were highly associated with
later academic performance in school aged children. [1]Similar studies
also found that a high level of letter knowledge in kindergarten can reliably
predict better later literacy skills.[2] Having a home environment that's
conducive to literacy growth is critical in a child's development, and directly
affects a child's language and literacy development. Studies have found that
responsiveness and support of the home environment is the strongest predictor
of children's language and early literacy skills. [3] My point here
is help make parents aware that children who enter kindergarten with highly
developed early reading skills will achieve greater success with systematic
reading education. [4]
It's
never too late to start home lessons and programs to teach your children to
read. Regardless how old your child is, starting a reading program at a young
age will have ample benefits. Start with lots of talking, singing, and reading
to your child right from birth, and once your child is able to speak, you can
start a simple reading program.
Begin
with teaching your child some basic letters and their sounds, and even as soon
your child learn just a few letters and their sounds, you can begin teaching
them simple blends using the letter knowledge that they have acquired. Work on
ear training with your child on oral blending and word segmentation. One of the
keys to teaching children read is developing phonemic awareness. Studies have
shown that phonemic awareness is one of the best predictors of reading success in
children.
Notes:
1.
Percept Mot Skills. 2001 Apr;92(2):381-90.
Relationship between language skills and academic achievement in first grade.
Kastner JW, May W, Hildman L.
Department of Pediatrics, Child Development Clinic, University of Mississippi
Medical Center, Jackson 39216, USA.
2.
J Exp Child Psychol. 1996 Jun;62(1):30-59.
Kindergarten letter knowledge, phonological skills, and memory processes:
relative effects on early literacy.
Näslund JC, Schneider W.
University of New Mexico, College of Education, Program in Educational
3.
J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2005 Apr;48(2):345-59.
The role of home literacy practices in preschool children's language and
emergent literacy skills.
Roberts J, Jurgens J, Burchinal M.
Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute,The University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill, 27599-8180, USA.
4.
Psychol Rep. 1994 Apr;74(2):403-7.
Kindergarten predictors of first-grade reading achievement: a regular classroom
sample.
McCormick CE, Stoner SB, Duncan S.
Psychology Department, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston 61920.
Advantages of Teaching Children Reading Early
Advantages of Teaching Children Reading Early |
Before
a child learns to read, he or she must first learn the spoken language, and
this is one of the first instances where family members such as dad, mom, older
siblings, and grandparents play an important role in "teaching" the
child the spoken English language. Whether young children realize it or not,
they gain very early exposure to the alphabet when parents sing the alphabet
song to them. They begin to develop language skills by being read to and spoken
to. One of the keys to teaching children reading early on is by exposing them
to alphabet letters, books, and reading to them often.
Reading
nursery rhymes and children's books are an important part of getting children
to understand printed text. Talk to your children, and talk to them often,
whether they understand or not is not important when they're just babies. The
more you talk and interact with your little ones, the better they will develop.
The key is exposure, and repeated exposure. Once your child learns to speak,
you can begin teaching them reading at home.
I
often hear parents say that they don't want to "push" their child too
hard. How can teaching your child to read at a young age be considered
"pushing" them too hard? If you as a parent already have the
mentality that reading is a chore, and teaching them to read is pushing
"too hard", you certainly can't expect your children to be excited
about learning reading. On the contrary, learning to read offers a young child
an opportunity for a lifetime to learn, discover, and enjoy the wonders of
reading. Parents (including myself) will often underestimate the abilities and
learning capabilities of young children. When we first began our teaching
reading program with our first child when she was 2 years and 8 months, little
did we expect that in just a few short weeks, she would be reading not just
words, but sentences and story books. After about 3 months, by the time she was
2 years 11 months old, our daughter could read "Step in to Reading - step
2 (pre-school to grade 1 level)" books with some guidance. The benefits of
learning to read were apparent - improved speech clarity, and better reading
ability and reading comprehension.
There
are no shortage of studies which find many benefits in teaching children
reading at an early age. For example, one study administered a Stanford
achievement test at the start of kindergarten and then again at the end of
grade one found that early language based skills were highly associated with
later academic performance in school aged children. [1]Similar studies
also found that a high level of letter knowledge in kindergarten can reliably
predict better later literacy skills.[2] Having a home environment that's
conducive to literacy growth is critical in a child's development, and directly
affects a child's language and literacy development. Studies have found that
responsiveness and support of the home environment is the strongest predictor
of children's language and early literacy skills. [3] My point here
is help make parents aware that children who enter kindergarten with highly
developed early reading skills will achieve greater success with systematic
reading education. [4]
It's
never too late to start home lessons and programs to teach your children to
read. Regardless how old your child is, starting a reading program at a young
age will have ample benefits. Start with lots of talking, singing, and reading
to your child right from birth, and once your child is able to speak, you can
start a simple reading program.
Begin
with teaching your child some basic letters and their sounds, and even as soon
your child learn just a few letters and their sounds, you can begin teaching
them simple blends using the letter knowledge that they have acquired. Work on
ear training with your child on oral blending and word segmentation. One of the
keys to teaching children read is developing phonemic awareness. Studies have
shown that phonemic awareness is one of the best predictors of reading success in
children.
Notes:
1.
Percept Mot Skills. 2001 Apr;92(2):381-90.
Relationship between language skills and academic achievement in first grade.
Kastner JW, May W, Hildman L.
Department of Pediatrics, Child Development Clinic, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson 39216, USA.
Relationship between language skills and academic achievement in first grade.
Kastner JW, May W, Hildman L.
Department of Pediatrics, Child Development Clinic, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson 39216, USA.
2.
J Exp Child Psychol. 1996 Jun;62(1):30-59.
Kindergarten letter knowledge, phonological skills, and memory processes: relative effects on early literacy.
Näslund JC, Schneider W.
University of New Mexico, College of Education, Program in Educational
Kindergarten letter knowledge, phonological skills, and memory processes: relative effects on early literacy.
Näslund JC, Schneider W.
University of New Mexico, College of Education, Program in Educational
3.
J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2005 Apr;48(2):345-59.
The role of home literacy practices in preschool children's language and emergent literacy skills.
Roberts J, Jurgens J, Burchinal M.
Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute,The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 27599-8180, USA.
The role of home literacy practices in preschool children's language and emergent literacy skills.
Roberts J, Jurgens J, Burchinal M.
Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute,The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 27599-8180, USA.
4.
Psychol Rep. 1994 Apr;74(2):403-7.
Kindergarten predictors of first-grade reading achievement: a regular classroom sample.
McCormick CE, Stoner SB, Duncan S.
Psychology Department, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston 61920.
Kindergarten predictors of first-grade reading achievement: a regular classroom sample.
McCormick CE, Stoner SB, Duncan S.
Psychology Department, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston 61920.
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