Reading. Some of us love it and some of us can’t stand it. One thing that we all have in common, is that at some point in our lives we will have to read.

When most people hear the word ‘reading’ they think of novels, academic articles and newspapers. However, I’m here to tell you that there are many other opportunities within the day that put our reading skills to the test. For example when we go to a restaurant we read the menu (most of us make our decisions on whether or not we are going to go there based on what we have read). We read signs to tell us where to go, we read the ingredients off of a label when we go to the shop and most importantly let’s not forget we read all of our text messages every two minutes. I could go on and on about the number of times we use this skill in our daily lives, but, I am pretty sure we can all see the importance of reading. Without reading we would be lost. Reading provides a sense of independence and freedom as we can figure out for ourselves what we need to do, where we need to go or what we need to remember without always having to depend on someone’s help. Thus it is crucial that we as mentors and role models for young children within the foundation phase instil a spirit of curiosity in them so that they can become competent, capable and independent learners and members of society one day.

So, how do we start?

We need to look at ourselves. In order to sculpt successful readers we the mentors, or teachers, ourselves must have an in depth understanding of the basic stages of learning how to read, as well as as a deep conceptual understanding of what it means to be literate and the connection between literacy and reading. We should strive to create a rich learning environments full of opportunities for unintentional reading. We should reflect on our own assessment strategies and identify the learner's needs and stages of their reading to provide them with a varied program that accommodates all learners so as not to create a sense of disinterest within the learners who are not of a high level of reading. Provide opportunities for learners to discuss what they have read and what they have understood from the text.

How do we provide them with opportunities?

One of the best ways to provide children in the foundation phase with reading opportunities is to create a media rich classroom. Some tips on how to do this:

1. Have word cards that label certain areas and objects.
2. Have a book/reading corner to in still a spirit of curiosity.
3. If you have the resources, provide them with weekly trips to a library.
4. Allow them to take a book home once a week.

Secondly, as teachers and mentors we don't just want our learners to become mediocre reader but, skilful independent readers that can read to the best of their abilities. In order to do that we need to understand what a skilful reader is and what they do. A skilful reader adds meaning to what they have read. They do this by having knowledge of sounds and letters, language and general knowledge. They also need a sound memory in order to remember what they have read at the beginning of the sentence so that by the end of the sentence they can put it all together to make sense and create meaning to what they have just read. As teachers and mentors it is our duty, now that we know what we are striving to create, to know how we can help these learners become skilful readers. Some examples of what we can do is in the beginning of the reading lesson help them read and understand the title and sub-headings, go through the illustrations with them and ask them to try and predict what the story will be about. During the reading process, as they read check that they understand what they are reading and not just simply reciting the work. After the reading ask them questions to see if the learners can link what they have read to their own context and ask them to recall the new words and their meanings back to you.

The stages of reading development...

In order for you to help the learner it is important that you are aware of what stage of reading the child in so that you know what exercises are appropriate and how to help them develop at the right pace. Below you will find a list of the different stages with a brief description of each;

1. The Pre-Reader: Holds a book in their hands and turns the pages. Responds to the images in the book.
2. The Emergent Reader: Uses pictures to tell stories. Can identify certain words eg. their name.
3. The Early Reader: Knows most letter sounds and names. Can retell an age appropriate story.
4. The Developing Reader: Combines words into phrase without just reading word for word.
5. The Early Fluent Reader: Uses their general, language and sounding knowledge to create meaning of the sentence.
6. The Independent Reader: Reads fluently. Reads more advanced books, fiction and non-fiction.

As you can probably tell, the above paragraph and its examples of the exercises you can do, seem to be advanced for the lower ages such as Grade R and 1. So to help you, I can give you some advice, most of the learners in the Foundation Phase will fall under stages two and three.

Approaches to teaching reading within these stages...

Obviously the approach you use will depend on the type of teacher you are and the one that makes you feel the most comfortable teaching. So at the risk of loosing your attention I will only list two methods that you can try and incorporate, but for the record, there are many other approaches and there is no right or wrong one, it's completely up to your style. However, I would suggest that which ever method you are comfortable using, try and use a combination of all the styles because every learner is different and some respond differently to different methods.

All in all being a teacher or mentor to a child in the foundation phase is an amazing gift that we should not squander as we are passing on the skill that these learners will continue to use for the rest of their lives and it is our duty to make sure that they can become the best readers they can be.

So to sum up;

• Reflect on yourself and the kind of teacher you want to be.
• Provide your learners with opportunities to become skilful readers.
• Know the stage of reading your learners are in to know where you can start and how you can help them grow.
• Decide which approach to teaching reading works best for you and the learner and run with it.

Be passionate and teach with love.