Forming a Concept of Reading [i]

Where does it all begin?

Pre-Kindergarten

• Children are learning the sounds of speech
• They are learning letter recognition
• They are becoming familiar with books and print
• They are learning the purpose of text
• They are using environmental print
• They are able to do simple retells and to notice words

Reading development begins with the social interaction that develops between you and your child as you share books with them. Spend 5 to 10 minutes reading to your child each day.

5-6 YEAR OLDS

• They learn their name recognition and let them copy it.
• They learn letters and sounds.
• They learn the concept of print

CONCEPT OF PRINT

They should become confident handling books. A concept of print is referring to;

• holding the book correctly,
• identifying the title text,
• understanding that the front cover or the title page tell us what the story will be about and
• they also learn directionality of reading.

Learning LETTERS versus WORDS versus SENTENCES………….

Learning LETTERS versus WORDS versus SENTENCES

They will learn that letters form words and words string together to form sentences.

LEARN TO SOUND OUT

Teachers may describe the first words your child learns to read as CVC words. Your child will learn to hear and identify each single sound. Then pull the sounds apart then slide them back together again. This skill helps with learning to write and spell words. Your child is not yet able to tell how many syllables (make a word list with two and more syllable words) a word has, but they can clap the number of sounds they hear in a word. Clapping games at home help them to practice this skill.

COMPREHENSION

                They are developing their comprehension skills at this time. There are six main comprehension strategies that can be taught from an early age.

1. Making connections that are linking what they read (or have read to them) to what they already know about the topic.
2. predicting – Using the information in the text to guess what will happen next.
3. visualizing- Being able to make a picture in their mind about what is happening in the story. (distinguishing between fact and fiction)
4. monitoring- Knowing when a word sounds wrong or when a word doesn’t make sense,
5. summarizing- Children can explain what they have read or heard in 1 or 2 sentences

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[i]www.kidspot.com.au/schoolzone/Reading-Literacy-milestones-5-6+4168+305+article.htm