Learning to read: How soon is soon enough?

Simon Marcus Gower, Education Consultant, Jakarta

It is a consistent concern, if not in fact a worry, that parents and educators alike will have - when should little children be exposed to reading and so start to learn to read? Some will say that "later is better". Sometimes the expression "give the children a chance" is used as if to suggest that reading is a burden and a chore that children should not have to deal with too early on in life.

Many people would be surprised at the suggestion that even babies should get exposure to reading. Of course, this is not to suggest that a baby is going to pick up a book and read it -- simply not possible; but it is to suggest that babies can get great benefit from exposure to books and written material.

A parent that reads to a baby is effectively implanting sights and sounds of words into the baby's brain. Just the act of the baby trying to focus on pictures in a book gives exercise and development to the baby's eye muscles and makes connections in the brain. Those connections in the brain, happening over and over, are a key way in which a baby learns and achieves skill and knowledge.

The same is true for toddlers. Little children need that exposure to the written word too but a key principle is that any and all such exposure should be done in a fun way. The moment that a child becomes bored or tired of being exposed to reading is the same moment that it should be put on pause. Negative associations made in the mind early in life can be deep and lasting, so keeping a sense of fun and enjoyment in reading is very important.

But, logically we must ask, how are little children given appropriate exposure to reading? There are three primary theories that are generally applied and any good school for little children should be able to adopt and implement a combination of the three. If emphasis is too great on any one of them, weaknesses may emerge in the child's reading as there are weaknesses in each theory. Therefore, combination is wise and to be welcomed.

* The theory of "Look and Say" (or the "Whole Word" approach) is that the child learns whole words without breaking them down into sounds. This is a quite natural way to learn words because, after all, the first words that a child really learns are not really broken down into smaller parts. The child creates a picture of the shape of the whole word -- letters combined to make up the whole word. This theory does, though, have the weakness of being quite demanding on the child in the sense that when a new word is met the child may have no strategies to figure it out. The child must grope for comprehension from zero. This is where phonics may help.

* The "Phonics" method looks at the different sounds made by different letters and blends of letters and the rules about how they go together. Words of similar or same patterns are grouped (so you get word groupings like cat, hat, bat, etc.).

This can quite typically pave the way for children to become good spellers and it is also a method that is effective for children experiencing difficulties such as dyslexia. But, again, there are weaknesses. Depending too much on sounds alone can lead to difficulties, as English is quite notorious for having words of quite different spelling that have the same sound and also words of the same spelling that have different sounds. Just think of explaining "said" and "bed", and "tear" (water from the eye) and "tear" (to rip).

* The third and most challenging theory for little children is that of "Real Reading" (or the "Whole Language" approach). In this method the children are quite simply given a book to read and they attempt to read using whatever strategies they can.

This may mean that they read simply through guesswork or their memory and existing knowledge of how the language works. It is a method that has no real structure and essentially leaves the children to attempt to read and try to figure things out for themselves. Needless to say, this can be very problematic and daunting for the children, but it is a way that we learn.

Sometimes we use existing skills and knowledge to create new skills and generate new knowledge, but little children have few skills to work from and little knowledge to add to so it is a tough challenge for them.

Each one of these theories has its merits and demerits, and so combining them is both logical and beneficial and all good teachers of toddlers should be equipped with skills to utilize each one of these methods in a balanced approach to introducing little children to reading. However, whatever combination of methods is used it should be remembered that just reading to children is essential and hugely beneficial.

By reading to children they will get experience and exposure to language, words, rhythms and sounds; this helps them to achieve literacy. Likewise, research has shown that preschool children that are given a depth and breadth of exposure to language, both written and oral, through conversation do better at school. Also, children that are read to learn of many new topics that ordinarily in conversation they may not encounter -- it adds to their breadth and depth of content exposure.

But what sort of books make good reading for children? Variety is a keyword here.

* Giving a child exposure to a variety of types of language is excellent and so traditional stories, mysteries and fantasy tales, poetry, rhymes and just simple everyday stories create a good range of diverse language.

* In addition, a range of easier books with few words and plenty of illustrations are good because they will allow the child to begin to read independently.

* Repetition will help also (although it may be boring for adults); a child that returns to a book is reinforcing and implanting the words from that book.

Reading with children and making it interactive and fun is excellent policy too. Reading and letting a child see your finger follow the text helps the child to hear and simultaneously visualize the word. Hearing the written word helps reading development. But activity should not stop once the book has been finished; asking questions of the child and getting questions from the child about the read material is a key way of reinforcing the reading activity.

Ultimately, a variety of reading methods and reading materials help children to become readers but the children must enjoy the reading experience. If it is too difficult or the story is boring for them, they will lose interest and end up not really learning to read but just letting the adult do the reading for them. They should be challenged to read but in an enjoyable way that stimulates their interest and energizes and motivates them rather than tires and bores them.