Oct 09
9
Did you know that learning to read in the beginning stages is not all that hard for many children.
Yet lots of children find learning to read difficult for a variety of reasons. I will discuss these in future posts.
Many fail to consolidate the early stages of learning to read because they have not been taught how our Alphabetic Writing system works. It does have rules and it can be learned.
Most adults don’t understand phonics (letter-sound relationships) so they find it hard to explain phonics to their child.
Phonics Literacy is easy to develop. You will be surprised how little there is to master. It is not overwhelming when taken step by step.
Think of the Alphabet as a code. Early reading and spelling is first learning to crack a code.
It is best if phonics (letter sound relationships) is mastered in the early school years
of a child’s schooling but it is never too late. Anyone who is struggling with reading can be helped.
Your child will not want to practice reading if the words are too hard to work out.
This is serious because learning to read fluently involves regular practice.
You will not need a lot of phonics books to teach your child to read.
In fact artificial texts that emphasize some letter/sound can be totally disengaging for your child.
A variety of phonics work sheets with a variety of phonics exercises that are quick and easy for a child to do are easy for parent’s to obtain. I will be posting examples on this BLOG for you to download.
It is not necessary to spend huge amounts of money on reading material.
But it is necessary to take your time and monitor your child’s development. In future posts I will provide checklists to help you.
Each phonics lesson you give as your child’s phonics teacher can be what your child needs.
A classroom teacher does not have the time to teach children individually.
You can support the work done in the classroom at home to ensure your child’s
success.
You will be amazed at how quickly your child’s reading will develop when you read to her, play phonics games, provide carefully selected phonics worksheets and encourage him to read from material that is challenging yet not too challenging.
Minutes a day is all that is needed.
A parent, who understands how the English Alphabet Code works, can use picture stories with natural language and a child’s writing to teach how the Alphabet Code works.
Using a home computer to teach phonics lessons in fun and engaging ways is a modern approach because well designed computer software incorporates the findings of modern reading research.
Let your child set the pace of learning so they can enjoy mastering each skill.
Reading and writing involves much more than phonics but without this basic knowledge reading and writing are frustrating chores.
Future articles on this BLOG will show you how to develop your phonics’ knowledge so you can encourage your child to read and write easily at their pace.
Remember you are your child’s first and most important teacher. You can ensure your child receives the gift of literacy.
If you would like information about phonics (letter sound relationships) I have written an eBook outlining a systematic approach. This book outlines step by step the phonics knowledge your child needs to understand and provides downloadable activities that make learning fun.
Please go to www.superlearner.com.au to find out more.
I welcome any queries and questions you may have.
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