On Beyond ABC

On Beyond ABC

Read the following words aloud: cough, tough, through, though, great, meat, threat, dear, bear, goose, choose, dose, and rose. Inconsistencies galore! To read English successfully, students must learn the relationship between 44 speech sounds and more than the 100 spellings used to represent them. Decoding words using phonics cues and the ability to apply these cues to known and unknown words is one of the most complicated skills for reading. After mastering basic sounds, the student must then learn how the sequencing of these letters creates words. 

To accomplish this daunting task, new readers must master phonemic awareness (the ability to identify small units of sound and manipulate them), print awareness (the rules of written language), and alphabetic knowledge (recognizing letters as symbols for sound). Decoding involves combining these skills and connecting them to what students know of the world. 

Reading is an incredibly difficult task that we expect young children and English-learners to master in a short number of years. Teachers work hard to help students learn. What can parents do to help children master phonics skills at home?

1. Go to the library! Your librarian can suggest books to help children learn to read. Ask for decodable texts which follow phonics patterns consistently. Early readers need success. Choose books that follow the patterns your child already knows. Also, match books to the interests of your child without regard to reading level. Wanting to know will push them to wanting to read. Applaud good trying. 
2. Mix and Match: Find words that use recognizable patterns and sort them into groups by pattern. Write some on paper squares. Hop, pop, pot, hot, hog, jog, cob, job. Which go together? Why? Which stick out? Why? Make it a matching game. 
3. Make Word Smoothies! Get out the letter tiles and blend letter combinations together. S with H makes /sh/ as in quiet! C with H makes /ch/  as in choo, choo train which starts with T and R. Challenge your child to make new combinations. 
4. Rhyme Time: While reading with your child, find rhyming words in the text. Note spelling patterns — even irregular ones like choose and goose. Keep a visual list on a whiteboard or poster. Encourage your child to add words to the list while reading independently.
5. Be Word Detective: Encourage your child to find known words in your environment.  Cover your house with words children might already know. Label the bed, the lamp,  the dog, etc. Find words out in the world. Stop at the stop sign. Locate the exit. Follow signs to find hidden treasures.

The encouragement of parents is the most important asset new readers have. Read to them, with them, and in front of them. Consistency in the English language may be elusive but consistency in the love of a parent is constant and sure. Having fun with reading leads to reading success.

(This is the third in a series about reading success.)