Is Your Child Ready to Learn to Read? | Home Educating Family ...

Maybe your child loves read-aloud time and constantly clamors for story after story, but how can you determine if he?s ready to ?go solo? and begin formal reading instruction? It?s not always easy to evaluate a child?s reading readiness, but here are some tips that will help to guide you in your assessment.

In order to begin reading, there are five important skills that children need to possess. The first is print awareness, which is the understanding that text carries meaning and is related to spoken language. Your child exhibits print awareness if he knows that you read the words in a story and not the illustrations. Other signs of print awareness include the ability to properly hold a book, the understanding that books are read from cover to back, and the knowledge that sentences are read from left to right.

Another important pre-reading skill is phonological awareness, which is the ability to hear and identify parts of words. If you say the word bat and your child can think of a rhyming word?like hat?then he understands the concept of rhyming. Does your child also understand the concepts of syllables, word boundaries, and blended sounds? These are additional examples of phonological awareness.

Quite likely, letter knowledge?the recognition of letters and knowledge of letter names and sounds?is a skill that you and your child are already working on. Can your child recite the alphabet song? Does he recognize capital and lowercase letters? Does he regularly point out familiar letters on signs, on packages, or in stores? All of these skills and activities help to foster letter knowledge and provide a solid foundation for reading.

Another fundamental skill is listening comprehension, which is the precursor to reading comprehension. Children who exhibit good listening comprehension are able to answer simple questions about a story, and are often able to predict what is going to happen next. A child with good listening comprehension will be able to retell a familiar story in his own words and may ask specific questions during read-aloud (Why did the elephant laugh?), which demonstrates comprehension of the material that is being read aloud.

Finally, before you begin formal reading instruction, your child should display motivation to read. Does your child enjoy being read to, at least for short periods of time? Does your child pretend to read or write? Does your child frequently request read-aloud time and show a general enthusiasm for books? These are all excellent signs that your child is ready to learn to read.

Then again, what if your child doesn?t exhibit these five important pre-reading skills? If your child hasn?t quite mastered some of these concepts, don?t fret! You?ve identified the areas that you need to work on with your child. It is surprisingly easy to fill in these gaps in an engaging way?here are some tips to get you started:

• Promote listening comprehension by providing your child with an atmosphere that is conducive to listening and learning. Minimize distractions whenever possible (telephone, television, barking dogs, squealing siblings) so that you and your child can focus on reading together without interruption.
• Cultivate letter knowledge by choosing a ?letter of the day.? During the course of the day, you and your child should keep your eyes open and see who can spot the chosen letter on signs, in books, on the computer screen, on board games, etc.
• Utilize cooking time as an opportunity to nurture listening comprehension and print awareness. Choose a recipe, then read the list of ingredients to your child. Ask him to help by gathering the ingredients. If he?s listening and comprehending, he will be able to assist by finding the necessary ingredients, and you?ll be teaching print awareness as you reinforce the concept that the words on the recipe card are meaningful.
• Foster a love of books and a motivation to read by sharing your own enthusiasm for the written word. Let your child see you reading and enjoying it. Spend time at the library with your child and choose fun new titles to peruse together. Devote ample time to reading aloud and make the time enjoyable and engaging. Remark frequently on the importance of the ability to read and how often the skill is used in day-to-day activities.
• A day trip to the beach is an ideal place to work on letter knowledge. Using the sand as your chalkboard, write letters, spell words, and write sentences, then encourage your child to join in the fun. The novelty of writing in the sand can be very intriguing to a child, giving you a splendid opportunity to take advantage of this natural interest.
• Motivate your child to read by making it a point to let him observe the different ways in which reading helps you in your day-to-day life.? For instance, as you plant seeds in the garden, read aloud from the back of the seed packet. Explain the importance of being able to follow the directions for planting seeds, and then plant the seeds with your child.
• As you scan the newspaper or flip through a magazine, select short, interesting, age-appropriate pieces to read aloud to your family. Many children are fascinated by ?grown-up? reading material and are often eager to hear any snippets that you?re open to sharing. These little glimpses into your own reading material can be an effective way of fostering a child?s motivation to read, and they will help to set your child on the pathway to independent reading.
• When reading with your child, point out the illustrations and name an item, then repeat the initial sound of the word. Your child will hear the sounds that the individual letters make. By doing this, you are cultivating phonological awareness by providing exposure to the big idea that letters make specific sounds.
• Put your refrigerator to work and teach letter knowledge by utilizing magnetic letters. The welcoming and nurturing atmosphere of the family kitchen is the perfect place to explore letters and discuss their importance during snack time or meal preparations.

By ensuring that your child has a solid understanding of fundamental pre-reading skills, you?re establishing the perfect groundwork upon which to build a lifetime of reading enjoyment!

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Marie Rippel is the author of the award-winning All About Spelling and All About Reading programs. She homeschooled her two children through high school, and now she lives her passion for teaching children how to read and spell. Connect with Marie via Facebook and sign up for her newsletter for more helpful articles on teaching reading and spelling. You can learn more about Marie?s company All About Learning Press by visiting their booth in the free virtual homeschool convention, homeschoolconvention.com. (If you?ve never visited the convention before, just click ?register now? in the lower left corner of the login box.)

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Source: http://www.homeschoolconvention.com/blog/is-your-child-ready-to-learn-to-read/

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