Learning to read is a process that starts when a baby is born. Moms and dads and grandparents and big brothers and sisters and other adults are important people in that process because they talk to the baby and play with the baby. When babies and toddlers and preschoolers hear words and stories, they begin to understand how language works. That helps them become good readers when they get bigger.
Letter Knowledge
In 2000, a group of researchers and teachers called The National
Reading Panel finished a report that helps parents and teachers
understand what kids need to become strong readers. Here is some
of what they found: ß Kids need to know the letters of the alphabet.
This is called letter knowledge.
FUN IDEA: Play "I Spy" in the car, on the bus, at the grocery store. Pick a letter and see if you can find something shaped like that letter. "Can you find the letter M?" "S", "T", "V", "C", "O", "E", and "H" are easy ones to start with. Then move on to harder letters to find.
Phonological Sensitivity
Kids need to know that letters make sounds
and that those sounds form words. This is known as phonological
sensitivity.
FUN IDEA: Play "Sound
it out." You can do this anywhere—at home, in the Laundromat,
in the grocery store and lots of other places where there are
signs or labels. Look at a word together with your child. Use
your finger and point to the letters. Make the sound of the letter
and let you child have fun practicing the same sound. Then say
the sounds together so she can see how the sounds make a word
she knows.
Print Awareness
Before they become readers, kids need
to understand how print works. For example, when you read, you
go from left to right and from top to bottom. You look at the
print, not the white space. You start a book at the beginning.
You use different formats for different things, like a story might
be in a book, but a restaurant menu is often on one or both sides
of a page. Understand things like this is called print
awareness.
FUN IDEA: Play "Which
Way Does It Go?" Pick something that has letters (like
blocks) or words (maybe a soup can or a box of laundry detergent)
Put the object on its side and help your child figure out which
way it goes. Pictures will give him some clues. Help him see that
the letters he already knows have a top and a bottom and if he
turns it over, it doesn't look like the same letter anymore.
Reading Comprehension
To be a good reader, it's not enough
to know words. Children need to understand what words and sentences
mean. This is called reading comprehension.
FUN IDEA: Play "You
Tell Me." After you tell a story or read a book to your
child, ask her what happened. Encourage her to tell the story
back to you in her own words. Let her have fun with it. If you
see that she didn't understand something, do not scold her or
make fun of her. Instead, try to figure out what words she didn't
understand and explain them to her. Let your children use their
imaginations to make up other stories, just for fun.
Remember to praise your child and give him a big hug after you play word games. Even if she didn't understand everything, she is learning. Kids need to feel good about reading and hear you say good things about what they know how to do. It makes them want to get better at it. If you only point out mistakes, they may begin to feel that word games and reading are not fun. One of the best thing you can do to help your child become a good reader is to help them like reading!
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