Much of what you know as an adult comes from reading –everything from novels and web pages to cereal boxes and street signs. Yet what do you remember about how you learned to use this powerful tool?

Similar to learning to ride a bike or singing a new song, becoming a competent reader requires lots of practice with a set of specific skills. Most of these skills are acquired through direct instruction in the early elementary years.

Reading instruction in schools today is quite different today than it likely was when you were taught to read. Following is a breakdown by grade level of some typical activities that schools now use to help build your child’s reading skills.

Kindergarten – In the kindergarten classroom, you will not be at a loss where to find things. This is because everything, from the soap dish to the fish tank, has likely been labeled with its name. This is not mere coincidence. It is one of the first ways that very young children learn that written language can help them understand their world.

At the kindergarten level, the main emphasis is on helping children learn about the larger world that they have entered and what schooling is all about. Much of the kindergarten day is focused on helping children see that reading and writing will play a significant role in their learning during school.

A major goal of kindergarten is to help children begin to believe in themselves as readers and writers. To this end, children are given lots of opportunity to "read" from a vast assortment of books filled with colorful pictures or illustrations and to be read to by their teacher. Through this, children begin to understand the parts of a book (title, the name of the author and illustrator, the connection between the pictures and words), and their functions. They also learn how formal reading works (for pleasure, to inform) and to recognize some simple words by sight (I, the, you, me).

Through socializing and playing, children learn that language (both spoken and written) can be used not only to communicate with their friends, but can help them work through problems.

Grades one and two – At this point, children begin the more formal instruction of reading. Teachers build on what children may already know about the basics of reading (that reading is done from left to right, from the front to the back of a book, that individual letters are made from single letters). A large part of reading instruction at this level centers on phonemic awareness, which is the ability to recognize that our speech can be broken down into small sounds. Teachers use activities with tools such as nursery rhymes, poetry and songs to help students identify the sounds that different letters and combinations of letters make. However, this is not done in isolation. At each of the elementary grade levels, students are provided access to a wide variety of books, magazines, multimedia software, newspapers and other types of literature. These are used for group work (i.e. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle might be used as a basis for a unit on caterpillars), for independent work and pleasure reading.

Grades three, four and five – Although most children are considered competent readers by third grade, the process of learning to read doesn’t stop here. In these upper elementary years, the focus tends to shift from learning to read to reading to learn. Students are given the opportunity to use their reading skills to conduct research (with reference books such as encyclopedias and textbooks, in literature and on the Internet), to tackle more challenging books (in subject areas and for pleasure) and to read other forms of written material with an eye toward expanding their vocabularies and giving them greater confidence in their skills as readers.

Although most of your child’s formal reading skills will be learned during school hours, the work that you do at home to help support these skills is as important. Following are some easy ways to make reading a family affair and to instill a lifelong love of reading in your child.

• Use the library often. Encourage your child to ask the librarian for help finding stories he’ll like. Make suggestions, but let him check out what he wants to read.

• Let your child see both mom and dad reading and using the library. Encourage your child to think of the library as a resource for fun and learning throughout life.

• If available, enroll your child in a library reading club.

• As her reading skills improve, have her read to you, a sibling, visitors, even a favorite stuffed animal. Some stories that interest her may still be too hard for her to read on her own. She’ll let you know if she would rather read with you or by herself.

• Look for ways your child can use his new reading skills. Ask him to read signs, menus, cereal boxes. Have him read to you while you do the dishes or fix the pipes. Ask relatives to write postcards to him. Put notes in his lunch box ("I hope you have a great day today! Love, Mom.")

• Set aside a special read-aloud time for the whole family. There are many books that all of the members of your family will enjoy. Ask your librarian for suggestions and remember that many classics like Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol were intended to be read aloud. Have family members read different parts. Make a bowl of popcorn, turn off the TV and enjoy!

• Show your children that you support their efforts. The National Association for the Education of Young Children suggests that you become the "Great Appreciator," not the "Great Corrector." If your child makes a mistake while reading aloud to you, don’t interrupt. If the mistake doesn’t change the meaning, let it go.

• Make sure that you read some of the books your children enjoy, even when they can read well on their own. This is a great way of ensuring that reading remains a pleasurable activity that you share with your children.

Source: The American Library Association and the National Association for the Education of Young Children

Reading Resources for Parents:

On the Net:

• Read•Write•Now! Age-appropriate activities for reading and writing fun from the U.S. Department of Education - http://www.udel.edu/ETL/RWN/Encourage.html

• The Children’s Literature Web Guide http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/lists.html

• Good Books For Kids: A Good Place To Start http://www.ala.org/parentspage/tfp2.html#goodbook

Reference Books:

• Choosing Books for Children: A Commonsense Guide by Betsy Hearne

• The New York Times Parent’s Guide to the Best Books for Children by Eden Ross Lipson

• The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease

• Hey! Listen to This: Stories to Read Aloud by Jim Trelease

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