There are alternatives to England’s focus on synthetic phonics, which teaches children to decode words by learning the relationship between letters and sounds.
Changing attitudes to maths from the start of education can lead to more success later on.
Inquiries into how reading is taught across Canada join efforts in other countries to ensure educators are supporting students’ rights to effective reading instruction.
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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.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, 54% of adult Americans read below the sixth grade level.
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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.
A recently released schools policy guide has been receiving some criticism. Reports suggest it instructs teachers to not use terms like “boys and girls”, for instance. This is not entirely correct.
Australia’s curriculum is being reviewed for the first time since 2014. The proposed changes include positive additions to acknowledge our many cultures. But there are some reductive changes, too.
Siblings, as well as parents, can help young learners become avid readers.
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If families embrace reading as fun and routine and teachers work more closely than before with the families of their students, it’s possible that remote learning won’t be a huge obstacle to literacy.
Two literacy scholars share their concerns about growing pressure on educators to emphasize phonics to teach reading. In their view, critiques of other methods often rest on a false premise.
Words can say different things depending on their context.
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A whole language approach to teaching reading gives kids a whole linguistic picture of how words work. This includes teaching individual letters and sounds, as well as what the words mean in context.
Phonics allows children to read nonsense words, such as ones found in Dr Seuss books.
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English is a code-based language, with 26 letters to represent 44 speech sounds. Children must first learn to master the code if they want to be successful readers.
Reading books with your child means children learn to connect reading with feelings of warmth and sharing.
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Early experiences sharing and developing positive connections, language and communication set the stage for home reading to start children on the path to literacy.
Fine motor play builds strength and endurance in muscle memory needed for literacy tasks like putting pencil to paper.
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For learners in the early stages of reading, the best way to counteract the loss of literacy skills over the summer is not by forcing study but by boosting play that develops fine motor skills.
Children who love reading generally score higher on literacy tests than those who are ambivalent about it.
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It would be wiser to spend money on policies that allow teachers to teach in ways that nurture children’s sense of belonging and making sure children are not hungry when they are trying to learn.
Two adversarial approaches have dominated debates about teaching reading for decades.
Xolisa Guzula
Senior Research Fellow, The Centre for Independent Studies; Associate Investigator, ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Macquarie University