There are a number of issues that need to be considered before you start reading with your children at home. For example:

• Boys and girls enjoy many of the same books but, in general, girls prefer reading about princesses, animals and fairies, as found in many of your classic fairy tales, while boys prefer adventure based and true story books, such as those about sports, the Titanic and Treasure Island.
• Boys often show less interest in books than girls do (mostly because it is mainly their mother who reads to them and so they develop their own stereotype that reading is for girls), so it is important that your son realises the value of books and reading.
• The more your child is exposed to books and reading, the more likely he is to pick up the necessary skills and the more likely he is to develop his own love for reading.

Now, before a child can begin to read, there are a number of pre-reading skills that they need to have developed, for example;

• They need to be able to focus and sustain their attention. So catch and keep their interest by reading bright, colourful books with exciting pictures.
• Good listening skills are necessary to enable her to differentiate between different letter sounds, as well as being able to understand what is being read to her
• Extensive vocabulary is necessary to understand what is being read to her and this can be expanded by conversations with varied people as well as from listening to books, stories and poems being read out loud.
• Follow the words as you read them with your finger, so she can see the progression from left to right and top to bottom. Pointing to the words like this also developed an understanding that there is a difference between pictures and words, so take the time to discuss what can be seen in the pictures as well.
• Matching skills are important so she can match shapes, symbols, patterns, letters, numbers and words and this skill can be developed through daily discussions and drawing her attention to everyday things that she sees.
• Rhyming skills will help develop their pre-reading skills as well as their spelling skills. Take it in turns to list words that have the same sound, such as hit, fit, sit, bit, etc.
• Expose your child to the world of literature in as many forms as you can. Try a wide variety of different books (pop-up, material, picture, touchy-feely, etc.), play card games and word games, such as “I spy”, sing nursery rhymes and read silly riddles and nonsense stories (which also help develop their sense of humour)
• Remember to read signs while you are out shopping, such as road signs, shop signs, slogans written on t-shirts and billboards
• Ask your child questions while you are reading to them (they’ll learn a lot more from the ‘w’ questions – what, where, why, who and when).
• Encourage her to use the pictures to predict what is coming in the story.
• Encourage your child to ask you questions when you are reading.
• Look at the title and available pictures with your child and discuss what you think the story may be about.

There are different reading assistance techniques that can be used for helping your child depending on their age.
For young children:

• Sing nursery rhymes, songs and lullabies to him. Read or sing action stories and rhymes to your young child, going through the actions with him or simply bouncing him to the rhyme and rhythm.
• Read his favourite stories over and over and over again, particularly those stories with words that repeat.
• Give your child books that he can page through by himself without destroying them (board books, cloth books, plastic bath books etc.)

Ages 3 to 5

• Expose your child to pop-up books and books with tags that must be pulled to move or change the picture
• Look for stories that have actions in them that your child can act out as you read the story to him.
• Start to read longer stories to him (just bear in mind the length of his attention span).
• Read books that have concepts in them, such as time, shapes, colours, numbers, the alphabet and opposites to name a few.
• Choose books with lots of rhyming and repetition in them, as well as nonsense sentences and words, Dr. Seuss is great for this.
• Children at this age love books about things they are exposed to in their daily lives.
• Books should have only a few words per page.

Ages 6 to 8

• Choose books that have pictures directly relating to the written words. At this stage, books should have slightly smaller text and more words per page.
• Talk about what you read together; ask questions that are specific to the text and also those that go beyond the text.
• Introduce simple joke books at this age as well as basic riddles and verbal word puzzles (what animal’s name begins with ‘g’, ends with ‘t’ and rhymes with ‘boat’?)

When looking at reading theory, there are three levels of reading constantly in operation; these are the independent, instructional and frustration level.

• The independent level is where the child reads unassisted and makes no errors. In other words, your child is able to read approximately 97-100% of the words correctly and has about a 90% comprehension of what he has read. He shows no tension when reading at this level and his reading is rhythmical.
• The instructional level is his own level of reading where assistance is needed in terms of supplying the occasional word that he does not know. Here your child is able to correctly read 90-97% of the words and has an understanding or comprehension of about 60-80%. Here you will need to identify some of the words for your child and explain part of what was read. However, he still shows little tension and most of his oral reading is rhythmical. This is the level at which you read together and make use of the various reading strategies provided in this article to assist your child with improving his reading
• The frustration level is where he makes so many errors that it interferes with his comprehension and he becomes agitated. A child reading at this level can accurately read less than 90% of the words and understands less than 60% of what he reads. Reading at this level is both off-putting and non-productive for your child. He may randomly guess at words or show other compensatory behaviours such as following with his finger. He is most likely to stop trying to read a book at this level.

Books at your child’s independent level will give him repetitive practice, which in turn will improve his reading ability and give him confidence. However, he must not be denied the opportunity to access books that are at his instructional or frustration level providing the content is at his interest level. These books can be read to him in order to give him the opportunity to experience them.

Please bear in mind that if your child has been against reading for a while and is struggling at school, there may be a more complicated reason for disliking reading so speak to a professional and seek some help.

Good luck and have fun!

Author:
Melanie Hartgill
Educational Psychologist
Pr. no. 0860000115134
Click here to email Melanie
082 678 4300

Specialising in: Assessments (educational, psychological, school readiness, emotional and career), Learning Disabilities, Parenting Issues and Training and Child Development
Visit Melanie's Q&A page

Posted: 30 August 2008

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