WHY READING BY THE 3RD GRADE IS SO IMPORTANT PART 1 (2 MINUTE READ)
Let's face it. Parenting is a challenging task and navigating the educational landscape to get the best outcomes for your child can seem overwhelming at times. As a parent, I too, faced this challenge and wondered how to craft the best circumstances that would provide my kids access to future opportunities. What I learned along the way ultimately, convinced me change my career focus and switch from teaching high school to ultimately working with elementary students. Over a 4 year span, I switched from social studies to become a reading specialist. I found that at the heart of academic challenges facing many of my students were reading gaps that existed before they entered high school and were compounded by the depth and varying content areas students had to study. So, the school year would look something like this. Students were given grade level textbooks that far too many could not read, which meant as teacher I had to find different ways to help them learn the social studies content. After seeing students struggle like this, I decided that I needed to learn more about how to teach students to read. At the time, I had no idea the extent of the preparation needed to become a reading specialist, but in hindsight I think it was the best career choice I could have made. On this journey, became enlightened about where these reading difficulties often begin and how to prevent them. I learned that early literacy intervention is vital. Our brains are not automatically wired to read as it is with speech, kids must be explicitly taught how to read. Phonics must be a strong component of any early reading program. Here are some things that you can do to get kids on the path to becoming proficient readers by the end of 3rd grade. Phonemic Awareness - the ability to recognize and manipulate a phoneme (sound). Can your child identify each letter of the alphabet by name? Does he or she know the sound each letter makes? This must be taught directly to the child. This is not a skill that a child can acquire or his or her own.
Here are some easy ways to teach this skill. This can be taught to children who are getting ready to enter kindergarten or earlier if you like.
If your child doesn't know the alphabet, do this.
Get a set of index cards. Write the uppercase and lowercase letter on an individual card. Give the child one letter index card and tell them the letter name. Ask the child throughout the day what the letter is. Don't become frustrated it may take some time for the child to remember in the beginning. But, as the child is able to correctly identify the letter add another one in a week or so. Do not rush the child. Make it fun whenever possible. The letter the child is learning can be posted in different places throughout the home like on a refrigerator, in the car, at the table, or in the child's bedroom. Progress is an individual milestone for each child typically children should be able to identify letters, the sounds, and blend them to make words like cat /c/ /a/ /t/ by the end of kindergarten.
If your child knows the alphabet, but doesn't know the sound of each letter do this.
If your child knows the alphabet, but doesn't know the sound of each letter then using the alphabet index cards you made show each one to the child. If the child does not know a letter sound, then select that letter for study. For example, I might say what letter is this? The child may respond it's a "b"? When asked what sound it makes, and the child doesn't know, say it says "buh". Using the same strategy, as in the previous activity, a copy of the Bb alphabet index card can be placed in different places throughout the home. This can be a fun activity wherein you can checkin with your child throughout the day and week reviewing the letter sound. Again, each child will learn master the letter sound correspondence over time. Do not go too fast. Add additional alphabet letters as the child masters each sound.
Next week's blog - Why Reading by Grade 3 is so important? Part 2.