PHONICS FOR KIDS

The English Alphabet is a series of symbols developed over centuries. These symbols represent the sounds we speak. The alphabet used to write English today was developed from the Roman alphabet.

The Anglo-Saxon language was written down using Roman letters due to the Roman invasion of Britain. Over time the letters J, U, and W were introduced to spell the sounds the Roman alphabet didn’t accommodate.

The English Alphabet today is:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 

The English Alphabet has 26 letters. Each letter has a lower and upper case form.

The upper case letters, most of the time, will be larger than the lower case letters.

Upper case letters are used at the beginning of sentences in names and in titles.

Punctuation was added over time.

The English Alphabet code is not a perfect code. One letter per sound would be much easier to understand.

We only have 26 letters to spell around 44 sounds. There is an argument amongst linguists as to the exact number of sounds but 44 is close enough.  Most languages have around 44 sounds.

The English Alphabet is the way hundreds of thousands of words can be recorded and read. It is not possible for the human mind to memorize that many characters or words.

One, two, sometimes three and four letters can stand for the sounds of English within a word.

Sometimes the sounds of the language have more than one spelling. This is why English spelling

is regarded as difficult. But it too has rules that can be learned and understood.

The first fundamental principle a beginning reader and writer needs to understand is that words and syllables (parts of words that contain a vowel sound) are comprised of a sequence of elementary speech sounds. This is called phonological (sound) awareness.

This understanding is essential to learning to read an alphabetic language. I am convinced because of my extensive experience working with underachieving students that the majority of people with reading problems have not grasped this idea.

If you have a child with reading problems check out whether they know how to decode words.

Email me and I will send you an outline of how to do this.

So many reading problems stem from the inability to decode words in text.

In most cases this is easy to recify.

A Newspaper Article published in the Herald Sun-Melbourne  15.4.08 and written by Blanche Clarke illustrated the situation for struggling readers in some Melbourne schools.

Two literacy experts:
RMIT University’s Kerry Hempenstall and Macquarie University’s Kevin Wheldall said it was common for parents of low progress readers to be told their children would “get it” and not to worry.

Professor Hempenstall said many teachers believed that literacy progress was dependent on a child’s maturity. He said, “nine out of ten kids who don’t start well never catch up”

He studied the literacy skills of 206 struggling readers in years 3 and 6 at 10 schools in Melbourne’s northern and western suburbs.

Students who were given a 65 lesson synthetic phonics program (corrective reading) had strong gains in decoding, spelling and phonological skills.
Students who did not receive this tuition and remained with their normal English program showed only modest changes in their skill development.

In 2005 - The National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy promoted an early and systematic emphasis on the explicit teaching of phonics
http://www.dest.gov.au/nitl/report.htm

Prof Wheldall says:
25-30% of children will pick up learning to read with little instruction, “probably in spite of what teachers do”

50% of children will learn to read within the classroom.

25% of children who we sometimes call dyslexic and who haven’t had the preparatory work in their pre-school years struggle.

I have taught students in all groups. Many intelligent students with excellent backgrounds have been in the last group.

I believe they are there for a number of reasons.

·         We should check out their phonemic awareness and decoding skills.

·         Most students who struggle with reading, lack the necessary body of phonics knowledge for reading success. 

·         Reading and writing have fundamental decoding skills that need to be mastered before reading for meaning and higher order skills develop.

 

 

Reading is a complex skill and like learning to ride a bike or guitar learning to read has stages.

In 1983 Jeanne Chall identified 6 stages of learning to read.

This is a helpful framework.

Stage 0          Pre reading stage. Children begin noticing the print around them.

Stage 1          Recognising the Alphabet Principle. Letters represent speech sounds.  

Stage 2           Mastering letter/sound relationships and grammar.

STAGES 0 – 3  ARE THE LEARNING TO READ STAGES

Stage 3           Developing thinking and comprehension. Reading to learn.

Stages 4&5    Developing Analytical and Synthetic reasoning.

According to Chall for most children stages 1 and 2 need to be explicily taught.

Over one billion people in the modern world speak and understand English.

The language that influenced the European languages can be traced to more than 4000 years ago to the plains of India. Migration of tribes and groups of people can be mapped and the historical development of languages can be traced.

It is as if language itself dictated its development and nothing was going to prevent its growth.

The strength of English since its origins is its capacity to absorb other languages.

It began as a few local Germanic dialects spoken by a hundred and fifty thousand people.

In the 5^th Century Germanic warrior tribes arrived in Britain as mercenaries to keep the peace after the Roman Empire collapsed. Over time they overpowered the local Celts or Britons.

They were followed by farmers and people who wanted to settle in the area known as England today.

The language of the Celts survived in Cornwall, Wales, Ireland and Scotland.

It is likely that some of the Celtic language was incorporated into the developing English language. The differing dialects of the Germanic tribes took time to be assimilated into one language. The influence of the Danes also has to be taken into account.

King Alfred the Great is the person who is regarded as saving the English Language as his armies defeated the Danes.

The influence Doctor Samuel Johnson cannot be underestimated. In 1755 Dr Johnson recorded and defined 43 000 words and set the mark for future English dictionaries.

The British Empire and its world domination as well as the United States ensured that English gained its status as an influential world language.

A superb account of the history of English is:

The Adventure of English: The Biography of a Language: 500AD to 2000

Sceptre – Hodder and Stoughton  c2003.

Melvyn Bragg

What sets humans apart from animals is language. It is language that enables us to think and communicate with one another. We form all our concepts through words. 

If our thinking is confined to the words we hear and speak our intellectual development is

limited for it is through the written word that complex thinking is recorded and communicated.

The Alphabet is the foremost invention of all time. It has enabled hundreds of thousands of words to be invented to record and communicate human achievement.

Reading and writing have a language base. They are skills which contribute to personal growth and enable people to contribute to society in countless ways. Teaching reading strategies need to be specifically undertaken throughout formal education.

All skills have fundamental principles that underpin them.

When these principles are understood and mastered the skill can be established through practice.

To master any skill involves the correct form of practice and continuous effort.

We are not born with the ability to read and write. People need to be taught how.

I have been a teacher for over 35 years and have seen firsthand how many children and adults struggle with reading.

My experience within the school system led me to search for answers to this problem. It didn’t make sense to me that some very young children could read easily while older children, teenagers and adults struggle and give up.

There is a lot of research done into reading trying to find the answers why so many have trouble learning to read and some of the findings will be outlined in this blog.

One of the fundamental reasons many people have trouble learning to read is they do not understand how an alphabetic writing system works.

Understanding how The English Alphabetic Writing System works can be taught in a systematic way – step by step, one step at a time and in a relatively short time.

Learning the mechanics of reading and writing is like cracking a code. Did you know that all the phonics information you need to know can be outlined “on the back of an envelope”. 

Once a person understands how to crack the code they can concentrate on the information the text presents. For we read to get information.

Reading and writing are skills and people master skills in their own time.

It is never too late to learn to read and write because they are not biological processes.

Learning how to crack the English Alphabet Code is not difficult. But you need the key!

What is reading?

Reading is a complex process involving word recognition, comprehension, fluency, and motivation. Reading and writing abilities continue to develop throughout life. The years from birth to eight are the most important in literacy development.

Do most children learn to read easily?

Only 5% of children learn to read effortlessly.

20% – 30% of children learn to read relatively easily when formally instructed including phonics lessons. Phonics for kids as early as possible gives a beginning reader a head start.

60% of children find learning to read challenging. This is why phonics for five year old kids is an absolute necessity.

What can parents and caregivers do to ensure a child learns to read?

For a child to become a good reader, it takes a partnership that begins at home and continues at school.  You can prepare your child to read by sharing your time, talking about the world around you, telling and reading stories and asking and answering questions.

What factors hinder reading development?

Not understanding the sounds that make up the language.

Not understanding that letters stand for the sounds in words. (The Alphabetic Principle)

Not able to comprehend what is read known as poor comprehension skill development.

No motivation to read.

Fundamental skills not taught systematically.

Can a person be taught to read at any age?

Definitely. It is never too late for someone to learn to read.

What is a learning disorder?

A learning disability is a disorder that affects a person’s ability to either interpret what they see and hear or to link information from different parts of the brain. The most common of which is difficulty with language and reading.

What is Dyslexia

Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability which results in people having difficulties with specific language skills, particularly reading, spelling, writing, and pronouncing words.

People with dyslexia have been found to have problems with identifying the separate speech sounds within a word and/or learning how letters represent those sounds.

Dyslexia occurs in people of all backgrounds and intellectual levels.

People who are very bright can be dyslexic. Dyslexia runs in families.

With proper help, many people with dyslexia can learn to read and write well.

What does the future hold for reading instruction?

Scientific research is now providing insights on how to prevent the development of poor reading and all the problems that come with it. Scientifically based reading instruction techniques can be used to improve the brain function of those with reading difficulties enabling them to read better.

What do you do if you suspect your child has a learning disability?

Don’t ignore your concern. Children want to please their parents and teachers and want to learn and succeed. Do not blame the child for their lack of success. Be sure to search for the reason for their difficulties. Begin with the child’s school and seek other professional help until you have an answer and your child is receiving the necessary support.

10 Secrets on How to Get Your Child to Love Reading
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Shawn_Snyder]Shawn Snyder

Are you aware that there is a crisis in the American educational arena today? That the children who live in the greatest super power country of the entire world are no longer the brightest nor the best educated children any more! In fact, colleges are crying out for help because the average freshman college student does not have the reading comprehension to read an assignment, contribute to a class discussion and certainly not able to write a college term paper.

What can we do? Educators in all grade levels are pointing away from the high tech gadgets that today’s child spends countless hours on and towards an old forgotten favorite; books. But some say that their children are not interested in reading, that they don’t enjoy nor like reading. Here are 10 different ways to help your child to love reading.

1. Set the example for reading. Let your child see you read an assortment of different items from the mail, to the newspaper to books. Be willing to share from your reading, is there a story in the paper that will affect your community, a funny section from your book. The dinner table makes an excellent place for everyone to share something from what they are reading.

2. Read out loud to your child everyday. Get into the story, use different voices for the characters, be as silly as possible. Lower your voice in soft parts of the story and then grow loud at exciting times. Reading isn’t just for bedtime; make a tent in the living room and snuggle with blankets and pillows. Or enjoy a story outside on the back porch. That’s the beauty of books, they can go anywhere.

3. Make a weekly trip to the library. There is usually a story hour at the library and sharing a story with others is always fun. For older kids have them join a book club or start one if there isn’t one going. Make sure to check out some books before you leave the library! Make some of the books fun and at age level also get some books that will challenge your child’s thinking and imagination. Different topics in different areas; stories, science, history. Open up different areas for your child to see and explore.

4. Ask questions when you are done reading. What was your child’s favorite part of the story, which was their favorite character? How would they of liked the story to have ended?

5. Let your child follow their interests in their reading material. Do they love horses; are they into World War 1? What a great way for them to learn and enjoy their favorite subject. And don’t worry; their interests usually shift before they run out of books in that topic. Especially, if new topics are available for them to glance at.

6. Give books as gifts. This is the perfect time to invest money into nice hardbound books of a favorite author or series. To finish the series that the child knows or to introduce a new author, ask the child. What a perfect time to build a nicely stocked library in your home. A child can’t grab a book and enjoy a few minutes of quiet time if you don’t have books in your home.

7. Make time for reading. Turn off the TV, limit the computer. Have a “20 minute read-a-thon.” Have a fun reading contest; whoever reads the most pages in a set time wins a fun prize (maybe a trip to a bookstore!) There is reading contests through businesses were the child can earn a free prize. Pizza Hut offers a free personal pan pizza, Dairy Queen, a free ice cream cone. Ask your local businesses about the contests they run or just stick with creating your own.

8. Have your child create their own book. They can print the story, illustrate it. Have a write up about the author. Laminate it, make a special cover. Share the books at the dinner table.

9. Teach your child to respect books. Books are our friends, we need to show the child not to mark on the pages nor tear them. Books aren’t meant to be thrown on the floor; there is a correct way to put a book on the book shelf. That way the book will last longer and be able to be read later by others.

10. Stress breaker! After an afternoon of reading stories of long, long ago in far, far away lands with your child. Who couldn’t love an adventure that would take you away from the stress for both you and your child?

Visit us at http://kidzfunmedia.com/ for great ideas on personalized childrens books. Also, http://kfmpersonalizedkidsbooks.com/ has books and other ideas to get your child to love to read.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Shawn_Snyder http://EzineArticles.com/?10-Secrets-on-How-to-Get-Your-Child-to-Love-Reading&id=3274844