What Not to Worry About in Teaching Young Children to Read

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What Not to Worry About in Teaching Young Children to Read

By JESSICA LAHEY MARCH 19, 2015 9:36 AM March 19, 2015 9:36 am 36 Comments




The importance of reading to children from birth. Kindergarten readiness. The various approaches to teaching reading. All of those issues have been much in the news of late (and they’re never far from the minds of parents of young children), so my “Parent-Teacher Conference” email folder is full of questions about early literacy. Fortunately, Daniel T. Willingham’s new book, “Raising Kids Who Read,” was published this month, and it addresses every single one of them.



Dr. Willingham is a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, and his books and articles are some of my favorite resources on the science of learning. In “Raising Kids Who Read,” Dr. Willingham explains the science of early literacy, then translates that science into practical advice for parents and teachers. This week, I’ve asked him to help answer some commonly asked questions about raising enthusiastic, confident and proficient readers.



Before preschool, is there anything I should do besides read to my child? Should I teach her letters of the alphabet?



There’s not much evidence that teaching letters early provides a big boost to reading, probably because most children learn the letters of the alphabet fairly readily. What children find more difficult is hearing individual speech sounds in language. Words are composed of separate sounds — the word “top,” for example, has three distinct sounds — but picking that word apart into its constituent sound components does not come naturally. Although it doesn’t come naturally, children must learn to hear speech sounds, because that’s what letters signify.



A great way to do this is through word games. Experiment with alliteration (good golly, gobs of grapes), and rhyme (let’s meet this street with our feet). Children’s books that are heavy on rhyming and alliteration, such as Dr. Seuss and Mother Goose, are great read-alouds that help strengthen sound identification.



At what age should reading instruction start?



English is funny. Sometimes different letters make the same sound (e.g., “thyme” and “time”) and sometimes the same letter makes different sounds (e.g., “lam” vs. “lame”). This complex, inconsistent mapping between letters and sounds makes learning to read a real challenge, so you would think it would be better to start early. But research shows that an early start offers no lasting advantage.



If one child begins reading instruction at age 6 and the other at age 7, naturally the one who started earlier will read better than the other when each is age 9. At that age “good reading” really means “smooth translation of letters to sounds.” By age 11, most children are proficient at that task, so our evaluation of reading changes; “good reading” means comprehension. Starting reading instruction early doesn’t yield an advantage to comprehension.



What’s considered normal progress in learning to read? I think my child should be making faster progress, although his teacher says he’s doing O.K.



There is good reason to monitor your child’s progress. If he’s having difficulty, extra support is more effective if it starts early. Unfortunately, “normal” progress is hard to define because our expectations must depend on the amount and pace of reading instruction. Your child’s teacher is probably a good judge of reading progress, as she is likely to have watched many children learn to read. If she says it’s fine, it’s probably fine.



But if you’re anxious, ask to meet with the teacher to get more information. Are students doing group work, separated by how well they read? If so, which group is your child in? Most schools administer standard reading tests to all children. Ask how your child did on this measure, and ask about the process by which children are identified for extra reading help.



As you seek this information, share your observations with his teacher. You each see your child in a different setting, and so can observe what the other cannot. And you are, after all, on the same team!



My first-grader loves to read, but I know some children lose interest as they get older. How can I make sure my child continues to love reading?



The average child does lose interest in reading as she grows older, but there are ways to combat this, strategies that relate directly to the most common reasons children lose interest in reading.



As children age, their teachers place increasing demands and limitations on reading. Children are given less choice, the material becomes more complex, and they are expected to do more with the texts. Make sure that your child remembers that leisure reading is different from reading for school. Leisure reading is purely for fun, so you can drop books if you want, skim over the parts you don’t like, peek at the ending and so on.



Second, children’s schedules become more crowded as they grow, so make books easily available for snippets of free time. Put a basket of books in the minivan next to the car seat, and keep a book with you when you run errands. And because most children will choose a video (or video game, or phone app) over a book, put limits on screen time to make space for reading.



Finally, and most important, parents should model good reading habits for children. Show your child that you believe reading is valuable. Talk about what you are reading, and ask your child about what he or she is reading. Children read more when they know their parents value reading for the pleasure it brings, rather than its role in academic success. So pick out a great book for yourself, and let them see you read!



A free excerpt of Dr. WIllingham’s book is available here.



parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/19/what-not-to-worry-about-in-teaching-young-children-to-read/