Having the opportunity to teach a child is a blessing but being able to teach a child how to read is having the ability to mold a child’s mind and open that child up to the world which is full of possibilities.
Teaching and exposing children to reading from a young age is incredibly beneficial for the development of your child’s brain, social skills and communication skills. When we expose children to reading from a young age, we spark their imagination and stimulate their curiosity in such a way that soon all your child will want to do is have their nose stuck in a book, which is what many parents I presume would wish for these days … Thanks iPads.
Reading from a young age is as important as ensuring you have some wine in the cupboard to help with your sanity after a long week, reading to your child and allowing them to read builds your child’s vocabulary as well as their understanding of not only the book being read to them but other discussions that may take place at school or images that they may see. It is sparking your child’s interest in books, knowledge, understanding and the world, when we read to a child or they read themselves they are expanding their knowledge not only on reading but they are actually able to challenge themselves to listen and try and work out what is actually printed on the page, why it is printed on the page, what it means and they may even be able to find themselves relating to these stories. According to researchers reading recreationally or for pleasure leads to higher literacy and language development, it improves brain function and improved self-confidence as well as your child’s motivation to learn.
Children are always fascinated by stories and cannot wait until story time approaches in a school day, children should be allowed to show their own personal fascination of matters as well as express their imagination and this can all be provoked by being exposed to reading, children should be allowed to choose which book they would like to read, when a child is able to read or listen to a story they are interested in further expands their interest in books and reading, as well as the topic that is being read for example animals, the book may be a non-fictional book that could be discussed by comparing it to fictional book by doing this your child’s knowledge will be expanded as well as their vocabulary and they may be even more eager to read another book on a different topic as they enjoyed obtaining new knowledge.
In the foundation phase students are still very young and they have a mind like a sponge, we start teaching students how to read and expose them to literacy in these early stages as we want them to expand their minds as much as possible as this will only be beneficial to them in the long run, we need to develop the foundation of these children’s lives as you all know you cannot expect a house to last through the harsh conditions of the world without first laying a strong foundation, a child is the same with no strong foundation in reading they will not be able to challenge the world with their knowledge. Many people underestimate what these young minds are made of, instead of being seen as uncapable due to their lack of experience and age these minds should be celebrated and nurtured which is exactly what is done in the foundation phase of teaching. “A child who reads will be an adult who thinks”- unknown.
These steps may be taken by a teacher in order to assist a child who is struggling to read:
1. Personalize their learning path, this is done through adaptive technology which enables students to work at their own pace and on their own learning path. Data is gathered about the child and integrated into their learning so that they are able to link already aquired knowledge to what they are learning.
2. Offer the right level of scafolding at the right time, sacfolding refers to the temporeral assistance of a teacher, it frees up students abaility to ask questions ans explore knowledge, once the learner is no longer struggling the teacher will gradually place more responsibility onto the learner.
3. Provide systematic and cumulative instruction, Formulating an appropriate learning goal is only the first step. A systematic learning plan, one which students can readily understand, can increase the learners engagement because the student always knows their progress. Struggling readers must have instruction that is systematic and cumulative. Systematic instruction is carefully thought out, builds upon prior learning, builds from simple to complex and is designed before activities and lessons are planned. Cumulative instruction provides multiple opportunities to practice both previously and newly acquired skills, addressing issues of retention and automaticity.
4. Engage in multisensory activities, The goal is to find each student's learning strengths and engage those strengths when introducing new information. Instead of telling a student about a particular concept, multisensory activities allow a student to experience the concept. Engaging in acivities that involve all the senses can help children understand information in their most suitable form.
5. Supplying at home resources, The involvement of parents in a struggling child’s education can make a huge difference. One way to involve parents and keep them informed of their child’s literacy development is to offer ways to reinforce newly learned skills at home. Stratergies such as asking the child to retell the story in their own words after the parent has read it aloud.
6. Motivate and reward success, When students struggle, their motivation and engagement levels can decrease. To keep students motivated, it is important to positively reinforce progress and celebrate success this can be done with a star chart or stickers.
references : Lexia Learning. (2019). 6 Ways to Help Students Struggling with Reading Close the Gap. [online] Available at: https://www.lexialearning.com/blog/6-ways-help-students-struggling-reading-close-gap [Accessed 19 Apr. 2019].
Resep.sun.ac.za. (2019). teaching reading and writing in the foundation phase. [online] Available at: https://resep.sun.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/RESEPp_Zenex-Teaching-ReadingWriting_Email.pdf [Accessed 18 Mar. 2019].
H.Van der Haar-Lockie.(2018).Teaching methodology and practicum 1A.[notes] Available at: https://ulink.uj.ac.za/index.html [accessed 18 Mar.2019].