Learning to read
Long before your child begins school or learns her letters, she is on her way to reading. Educators tell us that reading is not a separate skill that a child acquires but rather part of her general language development, which includes listening, speaking, and writing. So your child's opportunities to tell stories, hear stories, have conversations, ask questions, answer questions are all part of helping her learn to read. Reading aloud to your child, even up to about twelve years of age, not only helps her to become a successful reader, but helps you maintain close connections.
Once your child begins to receive instruction in reading and writing in grade one, she will learn that both activities have a purpose: to inform (instructions), to entertain (stories), to direct (traffic signs). At the same time as she learns the letters and the sounds each letter or combination makes, she learns to use those letters to communicate. Her spelling will be inventive at first; she'll begin by approximating a word, perhaps with one letter - c for cat, then some months later ct may become cat, and finally she writes cat as c a t. The more opportunities she has to write, without feeling constrained by having to get the spelling right, the more opportunities she has to expand her knowledge of how letters and their sounds correspond. This comprehension supports her development of reading skills. To be a skillful reader, your child must learn to identify words quickly and accurately. To do this, she needs regular opportunities to read. She also needs to learn phonics, the relationship between letters and their sounds, so that she can decode new words. After much debate about the emphasis on phonics in reading instruction, most educators agree that inclusion of phonics instruction helps children develop skills in word recognition.
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As your child begins reading picture books and simple stories, she brings her background knowledge into play to help her comprehend the characters, the setting, and the action. For example, in a story about a boy walking his dog, a child needs to know that dogs must be walked regularly in order to understand the story. Teachers may supply this background information during class discussion, but parents attuned to their child's needs can help provide the experiences and discussions about those experiences that give their child a context for reading and comprehending what they read.
Your child also needs many opportunities to read aloud to demonstrate her new abilities. It gives you a chance to evaluate her progress and to assess what reading errors she continues to make and why. When you're listening to your child read, ignore mistakes unless they prevent her from comprehending the text. Correcting every small error breaks her train of thought and will make her feel frustrated and unsure. When she makes a mistake that does affect the meaning, wait a second to see if she goes back and finds the right word. If she doesn't, help her to decode the word and pronounce it properly, and then have her reread the sentence to comprehend the meaning.
Your child also needs opportunities for silent reading. If you talk conversationally about the story after she has read it silently, she can demonstrate her comprehension of the material. Even after your child begins to read comfortably on her own, continue to read aloud to her. This gives you the opportunity to introduce books that she may enjoy but not yet have the ability to read herself. It is also a wonderful way to continue to share the joy of reading with your child.
