Why children need to read
- The most avid reader reads in two days what the most reluctant reads in a year.
- The amount that someone reads makes a difference not just to development of reading ability, but to the growth of vocabulary and general knowledge.
- What you know is directly related to the amount that you read.
- Children with poor reading skills and habits are in danger of low educational attainment. What can be done to prevent this from happening and how can parents help their children?
Read, read, read!
Books are the source of most of the new words that children learn once they are in school. Of course, children learn new words from television and through conversation, but the research shows that the majority of new vocabulary comes from books.
Research has also shown that children who read more have wider vocabularies. This is not just to do with social advantage or intellectual ability - research has found that the beneficial relationship between reading volume (amount) and vocabulary is not affected by a child's intellectual ability.
An early start
Getting off to an early start in reading helps children quickly pick up the skills they need to expand their knowledge and vocabulary. These two areas are key:
Good early phonics-based teaching of word-decoding skills. This means helping the child to recognise and understand the sounds that letter combinations make.
Supporting and encouraging children to engage with reading.
Being able to decode is not enough - unless a child gets practice and experience of reading, he won't capitalise on those decoding skills.
Supporting early reading
Research shows that children benefit from being read to from an early age, learning how books work and developing familiarity with written forms of language. This knowledge and experience makes things much easier when they then encounter print.
During early reading children are exposed to printed words and begin to develop word-recognition skills and start to see links between sound and letters. This ability is a vital foundation for building fluency of reading.
Struggling and reluctant readers
For those children who find it hard to master the principles of decoding, early intervention is important, a more serious learning difficulty may be the problem. The longer a child is left struggling the harder it is to improve their skills. You can get more advice on help available at www.dyslexiaaction.org.uk
Big factors in developing reading are confidence and motivation. There are more and more books with high interest and lower demands on independent reading skills which are very helpful for providing practice and developing confidence in reading. The Waterstone's Guide to Books for Young Dyslexic Readers has many suggestions of suitable books.
How to help a child with reading
1. Reading to a child - this improves listening skills, broadens interest in books and improves vocabulary.
2. Shared reading - the adult reads and the child joins in - is very useful. Encourage your child to join in by :
- Discussing the books content with him
- Discussing the pictures and asking him to describe what is happening or might happen.
- Running your finger along the line of print as you read
- Suggest your child joins in by reading some words
- Asking your child to retell the story in his own words.
3. Supported reading - this approach encourages the child to read to the adult and can gauge whether the child is able to read most of a book (nine out of every ten words). Encourage this by:
- Looking at the books and pictures together
- Asking the child to suggest what the story is about
- Selecting two or three words or main characters to talk about
- Allow a child time to work out words (it is recommended that you give the word after five second)
- Helping with accuracy.
- Encourage your child to check guesswork by cross checking letters in a word.
4. Over learning - this may seem tedious to you it is actually good to read a child's favourite book over and over again. This helps to build familiarity and if a child has a poor short-term memory it reinforces his understanding of the story.
5. Silent Reading - children need the opportunity to read alone. Young children need time to browse and more skilful readers need independence and time to develop fluency. Encourage discussion about books the child has read, not only what the story was about, but also whether it was a good read.
6. Fun! - reading should be a pleasure. If you seem like you are enjoying it your child will pick up on this.
- Make sure you are both comfortable and relaxed
- Make reading part of your children's daily routine
- Use different voices for the characters
- Read favourite books over and over again
