Articles
Sep 12, 2012
Phonics for Kids
Anyone beginning the journey of teaching their child to read quickly learns how important phonics is for kids. You’d be hard-pressed to find a reading program that doesn’t place a lot of emphasis on the importance of phonics. But what is phonics anyway, and why is it so important in the wider scheme of literacy? Although the name sounds complex, the idea of phonics is very simple. The main focus of phonics instruction is to help young readers understand how letters relate to small units of sound, called phonemes, in order to form letter-sound correspondences and spelling patterns. These letter-sound...
Aug 29, 2012
Teach Your Child to Read
Reading is the most important skill that kids can have in their educational ‘toolbox’. However kids don’t just ‘pick-up’ reading, they have to be taught it. Learning to read is a complex art, one that requires kids to learn a series of skills in order to both recognise text and understand it. Educators have found that the most effective learning programs that teach your child to read do so in a systematic and organised way that addresses five key literacy skills or areas: * **Phonemic awareness** * **Phonics** * **Fluency** * **Vocabulary** * **Text comprehension** ### Phonemic Awareness Phonemic awareness...
Aug 29, 2012
Strategies for Reading
Reading is a complex activity, requiring the reader to use countless skills simultaneously in order to read fluently. For both the child learning to read, and their parents, it can sometimes seem a thoroughly daunting task. And, knowing that a successful start in learning to read leads to further educational success, can make the task seem overwhelming. It therefore helps to have strategies for reading in place, so that the seemingly insurmountable task of reading can be broken into parts, which somehow always seems less threatening. According to the National Reading Panel’s report (2000), there are five essential elements to...
Aug 29, 2012
Reading Software
It seems that there are more resources than ever when it comes to teaching kids how to read and many of them can be found online. From resources for teachers, to tips for parents, the Internet seems to have reading covered. But how can you tell what’s bona fide when there is so much information vying for your attention? And is reading software effective in teaching kids how to read? Well, here are a few things that any reading software worth their salt will have. Educators have found that reading is best taught in a structured, programmatic way. However when...