There are alternatives to England’s focus on synthetic phonics, which teaches children to decode words by learning the relationship between letters and sounds.
A report from the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission outlines government and school responsibilities for educating students with disabilities and calls for changes in reading instruction.
Reading fluency and expanding vocabulary are the bridge from decoding to comprehension. Weaknesses in any of these building blocks will limit a child’s ability to read for meaning.
Having a vast and deep vocabulary affords precision and nuance in making meaning of the world, and this is key to children becoming proficient readers.
By the age of five, most children can name at least ten letters. In our study, 58.6% of children living with disadvantage could not name the expected number of alphabet letters.
One way to help children learn the words they need to thrive academically is by reading aloud from books and news sources that use both narrative and expository writing.
To “warm up” a book, use the K-W-L strategy: Talk with your child about what you both KNOW about the subject, what you WONDER and afterwards, what you’ve LEARNED.
Early intervention with reading challenges has very high success rates for supporting reading development, but it is much more difficult to improve reading skills in older students.
Early experiences sharing and developing positive connections, language and communication set the stage for home reading to start children on the path to literacy.
Professor, Canada Research Chair in Determinants of Child Development, Owerko Centre at the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary