Articles
Dec 06, 2012
How to Teach a Child Reading
With a wide array of reading resources touting different methods as the most effective to teach a child reading, it's often hard to know which is in fact the most effective. Different teaching styles notwithstanding, at the most fundamental level experts will agree that children need to be instructed in five key literacy areas in order to effectively learn to read: **phonemic awareness**, **phonics**, **fluency**, **vocabulary** and **comprehension**. The first area of literacy that kids need to master is phonemic awareness, that is, the understanding that words are made up of different sounds, called phonemes. These phonemes, or units of...
Dec 06, 2012
Fun Early Reading Activities
Most children start to read somewhere around age five or six, while some begin even earlier. Regardless of whether or not you have an early reader, the early years are a critical time for developing a love of reading in kids. As such, there are a number of early reading activities you can do with your child to help them get the best possible start. ### As Easy as ABC In many ways, early reading activities are as easy as ABC, as any activity for early reading begins with a knowledge of the alphabet. The English language is made up...
Dec 06, 2012
Fun Ways to Learn to Read and Write
Children usually learn to read and write around the age of five or six, and educators have found that the skills of reading and writing complement one another. The learning of each skill is made both easier and more effective when efforts in reading and writing are purposefully combined rather than separated. Here are some strategies that helps develop both skills: ### Read early The earlier you are able to read to your child, the better. No child is too young to be read to. Every instance of reading to your child feeds his or her mind with letters, sounds...
Nov 14, 2012
What can a Reading Assessment tell you?
Reading assessments form an important part of many reading programs, allowing parents and teachers to determine a child’s reading level, and to therefore cater lessons and activities to their reading ability. The most effective reading assessments help parents and teachers assess a child’s strengths and weaknesses, highlighting areas in which the child may require more help. Some key ways to assess a child’s reading ability include: ## Comprehension Skills Asking the ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘where’, ‘when’, ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions are always a good way to both develop comprehension skills in children and determine how much of a text they understand....