Does "reading" mean being able to recite the alphabet at the age of 2 (or younger)? Or "read" the words in a Dr. Seuss book?
Conventional reading, what we, adults typically do every single day of our adult lives, is what we WANT our children to achieve. The ACT of reciting the words formed by individual letters, is reading. UNDERSTANDING what we READ seems to have been over-looked. Reading to UNDERSTAND is what we SHOULD want our children to do and NOT to just "Read Early."
At least that's what I want for my own children.
How difficult is it to teach both READING and UNDERSTANDING?
I've always broken down the process of reading to this:
Meaning is formed by words in a sentence.
Sentences are formed by words.
Words are formed by individual "letters."
Letters are like shapes ("A" looks like a triangle; "O" is shaped like an egg; "H" looks like an incomplete rectangle...), lines connected together to symbolize a sound
Sounds come from the mouth of a human being.
THEN there is the act of visually following the flow of the words on a page: from left to right, top to bottom.
And then the turning of the pages, one by one (on a conventional book, that is).
And finally, trying to make SENSE of what was just read.
Put these all together, and you have the equation for reading.
BUT, BUT, BUT...the MEANING of what is read...is another concept all together.
How is MEANING learned?
"Meaning" is acquired through experience.
The word "DOG" is just a word for any child. If the real object (in this case, an animal) is associated with the word, then the child will understand what it means. S/he will equate the word with the animal.
The only way for a child to know what a DOG looks like is to show him what it is---through EXPERIENCE.
If we follow this line of reasoning, we will see that every child will LEARN the meaning of most words through physical exposure to concrete objects, animals, and experiences. The more meaningful the experience, the richer the understanding.
As the old Chinese Proverb goes: "I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I do and I understand."
WORDS ARE SYMBOLS OF THE REAL THING.
Sometimes we forget that WORDS, just like digits, are SYMBOLS of the real thing. They represent the real object.
How do children learn to "represent" objects? By PLAYING PRETEND!
Have we ever paid attention to how our children pretend to "talk on the phone" using a plastic telephone or even a shampoo bottle? Or use a play spoon and a bowl to "stir / cook the food like mom?" They are trying to make sense of what they see everyday and REPRESENT their understanding through action. They are using materials (shampoo bottle, for example) to REPRESENT the real mobile phone that dad is using.
And when we acknowledge what they do by saying, "Oh you are on the cell phone like daddy?", we are providing WORDS to represent the actions and the actual object. Symbolism. the word "PLAYING" come to mind? YES!!! And no matter how you look at it, PLAYING is the BEST WAY to learn ANYTHING!Children CAN learn "early" if they are exposed to many things at an early age. But this does not mean exposing them to FLASH CARDS and TUTORS at the earliest possible time.
Developmental psychologists all agree that a child will learn better if the "teacher" is a significant person in the child's life---a parent (or parents), a sibling, or a care-giver who is often in the company of the child. And by providing real-life, actual objects, the child will have a better understanding of the world around him.
ROLE MODELS WANTED: TALK, TALK, TALK!!!
READING is not just reciting words on pages of books. Reading involves understanding what is read. AND USING the words purposefully later on.
If you talk to your child, your child will talk to you too. If you listen to him babble, he will listen to YOUR babbling as well.
When you read at home, your child will read as well. If you stay in front of your computer or laptop screen for long periods, so will your child. YOU ARE YOUR CHILD'S SIGNIFICANT ADULT!!! We, parents and care-givers alike, have a responsibility to be good role models. CHILDREN LEARN WHAT THEY LIVE.
PRINT-RICH ENVIRONMENT
I have always liked that phrase: "print-rich environment." It sounds so complex.
In reality though, it is very simple. The phrase simply means, surround the child with as much print as possible!
Exposure to VARIOUS reading materials, not just books, is crucial to reading. Magazines, brochures, even menus in restaurants, are REAL LIFE objects that are replete with words!
Showing the differences in "letters" or how they are written are also interesting topics for children, especially those just beginning to read.
A parent I once knew, 15 years ago at the preschool I owned in Manila, went a little further by labeling most of the objects in their home: "door", "table," "chair", "cabinet" were words written and pasted on the objects they represented.
When her daughter, Rachel, came to school at 2 and 1/2 years old, she was "spelling" words as she said them:
"Teacher, that, door: d-o-o-r. Door."
That floored me of course. I asked her mother how long she had been labeling her furniture. She said, "...for about six months." SIX MONTHS!!! Reading TAKES TIME.
And of course, her mother was WITH her every single day, patiently, painstakingly talking her way through Rachel's brain. She spoke to Rachel a lot, described what she was doing, read books to her, at least three (3) each day, and pointed things out to Rachel. TV was limited to video-watching. No commercial television. They only had one TV in their home. And of course, the all-mighty tablet was not yet in existence back then.
Rachel is now in University, finishing up her course in Engineering.
TURN-OFF THAT SCREEN!
Numerous studies have been conducted on the topic of screen-time and all kinds of desirable and UN-desirable behavior: from learning to read to aggression. Depending on who financed the studies, the results are always varied. However, one thing has been recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics: "screen time" is highly discouraged for children two-years of age and below.
And I quote:
The first two years of your child’s life are especially important in the growth and development of her brain. During this time, children need positive interaction with other children and adults. This is especially true at younger ages, when learning to talk and play with others is so important.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) discourages TV and other media use by children younger than 2 years and encourages interactive play.
For older children, total entertainment screen time should be limited to less than 1 to 2 hours per day of educational,nonviolent programs, which should be supervised by parents or other responsible adults in the home.
The television or any screen apparatus produces a "lulling" effect on human beings. Notice yourself "relaxing" in front of the television or while watching a video. We adults use it to "distract" ourselves from real work. The same effect is true with young children.
They become passive "watchers" of moving images. And from my mini-thesis in grad school, I've learned that young children are not able to distinguish the difference between the "program" and the "advertisement" simply because they are almost running continuously! Hence, the concept of "THE END" does not really come into the picture.
BOOK HANDLING. There is such a thing are "book handling skills" as well. Young children, the very wee ones, need to understand that books are held "right-side-up." And that, according to one's own culture of course, pages are turned from right to left.
Sadly (or conveniently), the ipad debunks all that. Whichever way you hold an electronic tablet, the content swings around with you. A typical book, doesn't.
Then there is the issue of following the TEXT (or words). In our culture, words are read from left to right. The child who is still beginning to read, usually follows the words on the page by pointing to the words as he reads...similar to the lyrics of a song on screen when a red ball bounces along the words. Or in more modern times (like now!), the words are highlighted as the KTV music bellows in the back ground.
WRITING DEVELOPS WITH READING
Research upon research has shown that reading develops simultaneously as writing skills. One cannot be isolated from the other.
With consistent exposure to writing tools, children consequently understand that writing is directly related to reading when they make actual marks on paper, pointing to it and saying "that's a house," or "a dog," or "letter M". Children begin to understand that they themselves can construct their own ideas and put them down in writing.
Those seemingly-useless scribbles actually are meaningful to your toddler. All you need to do is to keep encouraging her to scribble, describing what you see, and NOT making judgements like, "Very good!" or "How pretty!"
She will need you to use more descriptive words such as, "I see wiggly lines," or "You are using all pink markers today..." By doing this you are filling her vocabulary bank with new words, using sentence structure properly, and showing that you are watching, paying attention to what she is doing!
EASY FORMULA?
There is no easy way to teach children to read but there are MANY ways to do it in an enjoyable manner.
1. Surround yourselves with print2. Turn-off that TV and tablet
3. Talk-talk-talk To and WITH your child
4. Read-read-read to your child, as often as possible
5. Draw with your child
SO can your child really "READ EARLY?" I would say "yes" but you will need to make the investment in TIME and EFFORT, not necessarily in MONEY for tutors, flashcards or self-help, instructional videos.
YOUR CHILD ONLY NEEDS YOU!!!
