Whether you choose to teach your child to read using the individual syllables and sounds of words known as phonetic learning or concentrate on the meaning of words in context with emphasis on grammar and construction, the key thing is you're focused on your child reading. The ability to read can have a dramatic impact on the success or failure of any child, not only at school, but for the rest of their adult life.
Language Skills
Reading introduces children to new words. A new book or website will have individual words a child has never come across, and not only will the words be in context to help with understanding, children should be encouraged to ask questions about words they see but do not understand. This increases the verbal vocabulary and promotes conversation.
Reading out loud, either at school or home, introduces children to correct grammatical structure, pronunciation and phrasing. This can help young children to express their thoughts and actions clearly. Reading out loud also encourages intonation, tone and speed of delivery.
Social Skills
Listening to you reading is crucial to a child's reading development, and at the same time encourages the child to sit quietly and listen as well as inquire when they don't understand something. The same rule applies at school, especially at a young age when groups of children regularly talk about a story in a book, or even act out the story between themselves using imagination and play. Learning when to listen and when to speak is an important lesson for children to learn at home, in school and in the community they live in.
The improved vocabulary and language skills enable children to interact with more confidence and clarity making social situations a far more enjoyable and enriching experience for them.
Societal Costs
The National Right to Read Foundation states that 85 percent of delinquent children and 75 percent of the adult prison population are illiterate. This is not a coincidence. The inability to clearly express yourself as a child or an adult can have a major impact on educational achievement or employment applications.
The National Illiteracy Action Project believes the cost to the U.S. taxpayer and businesses to be $20 billion a year with a further $5 billion spent on supporting those individuals who are deemed unemployable because of illiteracy.
The Role of Parents
While the government is investing billions of dollars into education programs to help children to read, parents still have the most important role when it comes to a child reading, enjoying books and being encouraged to use their imagination.
Always provide access to plenty of age-appropriate books. Read to your child every day, even if it's only for five minutes. Read out loud during everyday activities. Cooking is a great time to read out instructions, or even when you're reading a newspaper or magazine. Try to include everybody in the household. Using funny voices or different accents encourages child to express themselves. Always make any form of reading activity fun and enjoyable.
Different Techniques
The National Reading Panel found phonetic sound-based teaching to be effective either alongside or in isolation to the more structured text comprehension approach.
Using the Internet to assist with a child's reading can also be effective due to recent technological voice recognition software.
Children should learn at their own pace and will always be more successful if they enjoy the content of what they're reading rather than it being forced. Never make a child feel like a failure, whatever their own reading age, as this can have damaging long-term consequences.
