Have you ever come across a statement, saying or part of a book  that sums up exactly what you want to say?

I have just finished studying a book entitled “Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.”

In it I found a summary of my view of the initial stage of learning to read.

My experience working with scores of children who struggled with reading and writing backs this summary up.

The book was published in 1983 and is still available probably because parents are looking for a program that will help their child with reading.

I have been very fortunate to have had a long and varied teaching career and seen many of the changes in teaching and learning in Victorian (Australia) schools.

Changes for good I must say.

Teaching and learning research findings have filtered down to the teachers in schools particularly here in Australia. We are learning and implementing them all the time.

Modern education here in Victoria is fantastic particulary since the introduction of the integrated curriculum and technology.

Now reading is the fundamental skill we all need to participate in modern society.

Learning to read is like learning to play a piano. The sophisticated reading an adult does comes from years of practice. It can be likened to the playing of a concerto on a piano.

As the authors of ‘Teach Your Child to read……..’ point out  ’the ultimate goal of reading instruction is to prepare children for the concerto of reading. It involves  reading complicated material silently, at a reasonably fast rate, and understanding the details of the message the author presents.”

Now for the information from this book that says what I believe based on years of teaching experience.

“Decoding-is the central skill in initial reading. Most of the other skills are nothing more than language skills. Once a sentence has been decoded, it is like a spoken sentence that may have been presented slowly. If the child has the language skills necessary to understand the spoken sentence, the child has the skills necessary to understand the decoded sentence. The central issue is not that of teaching the child to understand, but of teaching the child how to decode the sentences that are to be understood. We should not require the child to read sentences that are beyond the child’s understanding,…”

As a former colleague of mine said, “Thirteen years of formal education before studying for a career occur because it is necessary.”

My wish is for every child to receive the benefit of what modern education has to offer by ensuring the fundamental reading and writing skills are developed in the early years of schooling.

Many researchers, teachers and scholars have contributed to the education debate and will continue to do so.

I would like to pay tribute to the authors of

“Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons”

Siegfried Engelmann, Phyllis Haddox and Elaine Bruner  

1983 Fireside Books, Simon and Schuster

for their contribution to my professional understanding.

Learning to read begins very early in life, alongside learning to talk.

Learning to talk is the fundamental skill that a young child needs to master and reading is an aspect of language.

Babies love bright colors and need large colorfully illustrated books.

When a trusted parent or adult talks about the pictures and words a child begins to realize that the information in a book never changes.

A child who is used to being read to will begin to mimic the adult reading behavior and begin to hold the book the right way up, turn pages correctly, ‘read’ and chant from known parts of the book. All aspects of learning to read.

Young children who have their own books ‘read’ their favorites or ask to have them read to them again and again.

I still have a vivid memory of my young son protesting when his father took a short cut and left out parts of his favorite story. He knew this story by heart!

During the early phases of learning to read your child is remembering word patterns and learning about the language of books.

This is a very important part and often underestimated aspect of learning to read.

There is no need for formally teaching a child at this stage. Incidental teaching when the need arises is of course valuable. The aim at this stage should be to develop an interest in written language through sharing and discussing books and other written material.

Once this foundation has been set the next stage is recognizing and noticing letters in their own names and in books. The first letter my sons discovered was the letter K. This was the letter on the K Mart store. They called the letter kmarto and searched for it in every piece of print they could find.

Much fun and laughter ensured as they did this.

Before starting school, some children take the next step and begin to notice letters from their name or recognize a word or two as books are read together.

Many children don’t, though. This is normal, because children all develop at very different rates.

I have noticed that many young children begin school knowing their letters and sounds and words that begin with them thanks to television and computer programs and of course interested parents.

Phonics or letter sound relationships are firmly established.

There should be no stress placed on the child to learn letter names and the sounds they represent.

In years past a strategy for teaching children to read was by using words on cards. When you knew enough words, you were given a book to practice.

Teaching methods have certainly changed for the better since those days.

As close as forty years ago, books for young children often had poor illustrations and very simple language. The illustrations were regarded as secondary to the reading of text.

Things have improved due to the change in teaching and learning.

Today quality texts, where the language sounds good and the illustrations often stunning, play an important part in developing children’s reading skills. Often a whole class is taught to read together through the use of a big book so everyone can see and join in as the teacher points out letters, words and sentences. Reading and writing are linked.

The modern classroom and technology provide a wide range of activities that encourage every child to succeed at developing their literacy skills.

A website that offers great information and activities is

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/parents/index.shtml

I found this poem in a 1899 copy of “The School Paper” published by the Education Department of Victoria, Australia. It caught my eye after I had watched a television program on how parents in an African country did everything in their power to get their daughter enrolled in school.

I wonder what poem there was for girls?

What the School-Bell Says

It is wonderful what unlike things

The school-bell says to the boys when it rings.

For instance, the laggard who drags along

On his way to school hears this sort of song:

Study till four -

Books are a bore!

Oh, how I wish

I could rush off and fish

See, there’s the brook,

Here’s line and hook

Suppose I must go

Whether or no,

Study till four -

Books are a bore.

 Then the boy who loves to be faithful and true,

Who does what his parents think he should do,

Comes bravely along with satchel and books,

The breeze in his whistle the sun in his looks;

And these are the thoughts that well up like a song,

And he hears the old bell with it’s faithful ding-dong

Cling, clang, cling -

I’m so glad I can sing!

Even a boy

Finds study a joy.

When my work’s done,

I’m ready for fun;

Keener my play for the tasks of the day.

These are the songs that the two boys heard

When the school bell was ringing, word for word.

Don’t be a laggard I far better, say

To work when you work, and play when you play

                                              From The Children’s Friend

Any comments?  Have times changed?

“Literacy skills start developing the moment we’re born and it is literacy that enables a person’s ability to participate in society.”  Timothy Shanahan. Chairman National Early Literacy Panel (USA) 2002.

 Thousands upon thousands of studies on early literacy have been undertaken because literacy is such an important skill for people living in modern society.

Governments know that illiterate people miss out on opportunities and end up costing the state financially.

It is now evident that early and more targeted investments in the literacy development of young children would be cost effective for governments.

The Developing Early Literacy Report states the following skills are what pre-school  children need to develop before formal literacy instruction.

• Alphabet knowledge
• Understanding of sounds associated with letters
• Ability to write individual letters
• Ability to remember information

“Children’s early literacy development should not be left to chance states,”  Timothy Shanahan.

The Report analysed nearly 300 quantitative studies but many areas in literacy could not be studied because there was a lack of empirical data regarding them.

For example the practice of reading to young children as recommended widely by experts was found to have inadequate research data to demonstrate it’s effectiveness.

The Report was focussed more on the Alphabetic Code because the Code is what has been studied.

Susan B. Neuman, an early-childhood literacy researcher in the USA points out that what is known is that the code alone will not solve educational problems. What is also known is that vocabulary development and general knowledge are also important components.

“But what we always have to keep in mind is that we are dealing with very young children, so the instruction needs to be playful and engaging.”  says Susan Landry a panel member.

Experts who commented on the Report stated the importance of presenting age-appropriate structured activities to young children.

The source for this article was

Early-Literacy Findings Unveiled by Kathleen Kennedy Manzo  January 9 2009 published online.

Paul Jennings is a phenomenon in the world of children’s books.

His first book was ‘Unreal’ published in 1985. He has been voted favorite author by children in Australia over 40 times and he has won every children’s choice award available in Australia.

His tales of the strange and the fantastic, encourage children to be enthusiastic skilled readers.

Before becoming a successful writer Paul worked as a special education teacher, speech pathologist and senior lecturer in an institute of advanced education.

He has written more than one hundred stories and sales of his books exceed 8 million copies.

Paul is passionate about helping children learn to read especially those with difficulties. He acknowledges the role of phonics for kids but emphasizes it is only one of the tools we use when we read. Absolutely true!

Phonics for kids according to Paul Jennings is “a difficult tool to use and must be handled with care. There are two major problems. The first relates to the complexity of the system and second is the individual differences in children.”

In his book for parents, teachers and caregivers of children, entitled  ”The Reading Bug…. and how to help your child catch it” he presents a guide that cuts through all the jargon and the controversies that surround children and reading and presents  practical and effective ways for helping any child to catch the reading bug.

The book also contains lists of recommended reading for children of all ages and stages.

Some of the points he makes follow:

• anyone who can read can teach reading
• reading to and with a child is an act of love
• there is no such thing as a book for reluctant readers
• an easy-to-read book can be wonderful
• good stories help us become good people
• every child matures at a different rate
• phonics a strategy not the strategy
• personal writing is a great way to teach reading
• kids love reading pictures
• a computer program cannot replace a parent

I wholeheartedly recommend Paul Jennings’ book, The Reading Bug…… and how to help your child catch it.

He has spent years teaching, lecturing, writing and parenting.

Now you can benefit from his experience and advice.

The Reading Bug……. is published by Penguin Books.

Gillilan Strickland  (1869-1954) was an American poet and humorist.   

I had a mother who read to me
Sagas of pirates who scoured the sea.
Cutlasses clenched in their yellow teeth;
“Blackbirds” stowed in the hold beneath.
I had a Mother who read me lays
Of ancient and gallant and golden days;
Stories of Marmion and Ivanhoe,
Which every boy has a right to know.
I had a Mother who read me tales
Of Gelert the hound of the hills of Wales,
True to his trust till his tragic death,
Faithfulness lent with his final breath.
I had a Mother who read me the things
That wholesome life to the boy heart brings-
Stories that stir with an upward touch.
Oh, that each mother of boys were such!
You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be –
I had a Mother who read to me.

When it comes to Reading & Spelling, is your Child “Falling Though the Cracks” in our School System?

Most schools do an excellent job of teaching children to read. But many schools do not. Even in schools that do an overall good job, some student’s fall through the cracks and don’t learn to read and spell before third grade.

The result is a child struggling to catch up for years to come.

Reading & spelling failure erodes the child’s self-confidence, makes reading & spelling a puzzling or terrifying experience. Both the short and long-term effects can be devastating. The child now avoids the humiliating experience of trying to read or spell as it gives them repeated evidence of being a failure. 

Like many others, your child may have come out of first grade believing that reading & spelling is nothing more than learning the alphabet, looking at pictures and memorizing words. Maybe they think it is a guessing game based on the first letter of the word or the context in which the word occurs. It is proven that youngsters who fail to learn to read & spell on schedule lack self-confidence because they have learned that they are failures. They dislike reading, spelling and school and often struggle to succeed in life.

We shouldn’t be eager to blame the teachers.

Often times it is the school districts that purchase unproven, untested, reading & spelling programs that the teachers are forced to use. Many of these programs promote guessing and do not have any systematic approach to teaching.

Children read & spell from texts and stories that have predictable sentence patterns so the child who learned incorrectly did what the books call for. For example: When they figured out the first part of a sentence “The boys wanted to go swimming so they . . .,” the children knew that the last two words were “went swimming.” And when the children said these words, the teacher told them that they were “good readers & spellers,” even though they were guessing.

The real crime behind a child who cannot read & spell is the teaching that leads to this type of tragedy.

You can avoid these problems by arming your child with proven reading & spelling tools before going to school.

Supplementing those skills with a good reading & spelling program at home while your child is in their K-3 grade years will prove invaluable. This armor will guarantee that your child will excel, have confidence, like reading & spelling and will not associate school with failure or humiliation.

Also, if you plan to home-school your child, this armor will start the schooling on a good note. Your child will succeed and associate schooling with FUN.

Just as this success is great for your child, it will give you the confidence that you can teach the most difficult part of home-schooling–the beginning reading & spelling skills.

When your child has reading & spelling skills, you have a lot of options about what to teach next.

The greatest single predictor of various antisocial behaviors, use of drugs, teen pregnancy, crime, and school failure is failure to learn how to read and spell.

In 1998, the National Institute of Health and Human Development recognized not learning to read & spell as not simply an educational problem but as a problem of health and welfare.

Success in learning to read & spell is certainly not a cure-all for life and happiness, but it is imperative for school success.

As a rule: no reading, no spelling, no bright academic future. The flip side of the reading and spelling coin is that children who know how to read and spell have many opportunities available to them that non-readers/speller and poor readers/spellers do not have. 

There is help:

Two amazing products on the market are:

ClickN READ Phonics and ClickN SPELL.

These Online Beginning Reading & Spelling Programs contain 100 precisely sequenced, research-based lessons designed by nationally recognized research professor Dr. J. Ron Nelson.

These beginning reading and spelling programs are beyond compare.

All other phonics and spelling products and programs are simply toys when compared to ClickN READ Phonics and ClickN SPELL

They are the only products needed to teach your child to read & spell.

ClickN READ teaches the entire phonics curriculum that is the basis for successful reading development. ClickN SPELL teaches the 800 most commonly used words.

It is recommended for:

• children who are learning to read & spell English for the first time those
• children who are struggling with reading or spelling. 
• children with learning disabilities.
• It even helps adults who are learning English as a second language or who missed out on systematic phonics instruction.

ClickN READ and ClickN SPELL are the only programs to simulate live tutor instruction.

• The onscreen instructor speaks to the child exactly like an expert teacher would in a classroom setting.
• Your child learns in an environment where answers are learned and not simply given away by the program.
• Your child must respond correctly to move forward within a lesson and the program re-teaches until the correct response in learned.
• This program also provides detailed progress reports, which provide an accurate assessment of what the child has learned.

This cutting edge program is designed to be so easy that your child can do it all by themselves.

Daily instruction is as simple as the child completing a lesson and the parent reviewing the report.

Your child can use it on their own with minimal supervision further building children’s confidence through self-achievement.

The lessons are taught in colorful interactive space themed classrooms by lovable cartoon animated characters, which keeps the element of fun so your kids will love it.

Everything needed is built into the program and it is the only product you will need to learn to read and spell.

The programs are used online just like viewing standard web pages. Your child can use it at home, at Grandma’s, at the office or while on vacation.

There is no software to install and no waiting for shipping.

You just complete your purchase and immediately begin using the product.

The results are proven and the testimonies are so incredible that the company offers a 60-day guaranteed refund if you’re not satisfied with the results simply get your money back!

Here’s just one more incentive: Save 5% off With Coupon Code: CNK

ClickN READ Phonics & ClickN SPELL ARE AN INVESTMENT IN YOUR CHILDS FUTURE! Check the Logo on this page to find out more!

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.