Learning to read: How soon is soon enough?

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.