It is those children who I want to support. For most children can learn to read and write if given the right support.

Inspiring children to learn is not always easy. School, teachers, and academic discipline, often rub children up the wrong way, so they refuse to cooperate. I have asked children why they didn’t learn to read, and the answer is often a flat, “I didn’t want too!” Believe me the saying you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t force him to drink applies to many non engaged children. Adults also need to keep in mind that every child is unique with their own view of the world and themselves.

Most children prefer to learn when they are interested, and learning is fun. But often learning something is not fun and involves self discipline and persistence. Somehow we need to alert children to this. The children who realise this have the world at their feet.

I was fortunate in the fact that I learned to read from a reading program that introduced sight reading and phonics hand in hand. The books were graded. The stories were interesting and engaging. Somehow I realised that words could be both remembered and decoded. Writing was done at the same time. I did not write pages of garbled text thinking I had done a good job. I copied text from the blackboard and wrote hundreds of sentences of my own using correct punctuation and spelling. Handwriting was practised, and exercises were in a copy book. Many children today would benefit from this approach too!

Learning to read and write is not simple. I really wish we would squash the objection that a phonic approach to teaching reading makes it stilted and unreal.

Successful reading instruction that uses words in a child’s spoken vocabulary and systematic presentation of the phonograms (letters representing the sounds of English) would make reading a more engaging activity for many children.

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The following article from the Age newspaper explains.

AUSTRALIA is 20 years behind Britain when it comes to diagnosing and treating dyslexia. That’s the claim of the head of a UK company that supplies dyslexia screening software to about 25 per cent — or more than 8000 — British schools.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/blogs/show-and-tell/dealing-with-dyslexia-again-20111125-1nyzs.html#ixzz1fInF62m8

For more information about dyslexia visit

www.HelpingChildrenWithDyslexia.com

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Related posts:

1. READING AND KIDS: ANOTHER READING STRATEGY

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=134554821997&topic=16302

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1950   The Lion, the Witch  and the Wardrobe  C S Lewis   85 million

1926   Winnie the Pooh  A A Milne   70 million

1908   Anne of Green Gables  Lucy Maud Montgomery   50 million

1877   Black Beauty  Anna Sewell   50 million

1952   Charlotte’s Web  E B White   45 million

1902   The Tale of Peter Rabbit   Beatrix Potter   45 million

2007   Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows   JK Rowling   44 million

1969   The Very Hungry Caterpillar  Eric Carle   44 million

 1958   Paddington Bear  Michael Bond   35 million

1881   The Adventures of Pinocchio   Carlo Collodi   35 million

1908   The Wind in the Willows  Kenneth Grahame   25 million

1963   Where the Wild Things Are  Maurice Sendak   19 million

1942   Poky Little Puppy   Janette Sibring Lowrey   15 million

1964   Charlie and the Chocolate Factory  Roald Dahl   13 million

1957    The Cat in the Hat  Dr Seuss   10 million copies

SOURCE:   Wikipedia  Sales are estimated as it is not possible to be exact. They are still impressive!

THE GOOD NEWS IS ALL THESE BOOKS ARE IN PRINT AND AVAILABLE.

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Reading involves mastering a code that is used by one’s culture to translate speech sounds into written symbols.   

• The word s-u-n is three letters spelling the sounds in the word sun.  Hundreds of thousands of words are formed using a blend of some of the 44 sounds of the language. These words can be written down using a combination of letters.
• Reading involves looking at language, sounds, letters, words, sentences, stories and ideas.

Many children on entering their first year of school do not have the familiarity with the sounds of English. They may come from a home where English is their second language. They do not hear it spoken on a day to day basis. 

The sounds that many children hear in their early environment do not match the sounds of the language they are learning to read. Standard English is what children will hear in the English language classroom.

When teachers begin to teach reading they have to assume that their students have an adequate understanding of English.  Many do not.

Therefore one fundamental basis for early reading failure rarely gets a mention. That is lack of adequate English language competence at the point of school entry.

Reading to your young child on a daily basis will expand their word knowledge, general knowledge and language competence.

For ideas about the best books for children visit: http://cbca.org.au/

Learning is a struggle for many children since they do not have the language skills necessary to tackle learning to read. Without a sound knowledge of sounds, letters, words, and meanings in language, children struggle to cope with learning to read. It is estimated this is as high as one in five children. From the start they see themselves as failing. For self protection they become discouraged and resistant to the whole process.

Life in the world today is not easy. Family and environmental factors place a lot of stress on young children. These can include

• Loss and breakup in the family
• Poor nutrition
• Family mental and physical health problems
• Children living apart from their parents
• Parents under job and financial stress
• Little attention given by parents to school matters including homework

Sitting in front of a television set does not help a child to develop language skills.

Speaking to family members does. 

One of the best things you can do for your young child is to limit their television viewing and reading to them for ten minutes a day from uplifting picture stories.

For ideas about the best books for children visit: http://cbca.org.au/

It is a wonderful resource for busy parents who want ideas how to share literature with their child.

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Parents who shun fairytales ‘miss chance to teach

 children morality’

Politically correct parents who shun traditional fairy tales are missing the chance to teach their children right from wrong, an education expert claims.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8378975/Parents-who-shun-fairytales-miss-chance-to-teach-children-morality.html

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1. READING AND KIDS: ANOTHER READING STRATEGY

Why Our Children Can’t Read and What We Can Do About It

By Diane Mcguinness

The publisher’s blurb follows

“In America today, 43 percent of our children fall below grade level in reading. In her meticulously researched and groundbreaking work, Diane McGuinness faults outmoded reading systems for this crisis — and provides the answers we need to give our children the reading skills they need. Drawing on twenty-five years of cutting-edge research, Dr. McGuinness presents bold new “phoneme awareness” programs that overcome the tremendous shortcomings of other systems by focusing on the crucial need to understand and hear reliably the sounds of a language before learning to read. Maintaining that any child can be taught to read fluently if given proper instruction, she dramatically reveals how dyslexia and behavior problems such as ADD stem not from neurological disorders but from flawed methods of reading instruction. With invaluable information on remedial reading programs that can correct various ineffective reading strategies, this book is a must for concerned parents, teachers, and others who want to make a difference.”

For anyone interested in how children learn to read this is a must read book from a passionate reading researcher.

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Nursery Rhymes, which by the way have been around for centuries, are a great way to introduce a child to reading. Most children have been read Nursery Rhymes or have picked up some of them so the stories in this reader are probably familiar to them. This makes reading easier.

Nursery Rhymes are a great way to introduce children to the joys of reading. As these are often a child’s first experience with written language, their first impressions of reading will be built on the relationships they observe. Spending quality time in a positive atmosphere can help your children develop a love of reading early in their lives.

Nursery Rhymes are also a way to introduce new vocabulary to your child and at the same time expand their understanding of the world. Nursery Rhymes are part of world literature and so can open up of other cultures for your child.

Nursery Rhymes usually contain a number of rhyming words, encourage a child to make predictions about how the next line or lines may end and can encourage memorization.

Well know nursery rhymes include:

Old Mother Hubbard, The Old Woman in the Shoe, Jack and Jill, Humpty Dumpty, Little Bo Peep,

Baa Baa Black Sheep, Wee Willie Winkie

To learn more about nursery rhymes and their history visit http://www.rhymes.org.uk

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