How Children
Learn to Read
Children begin their path of becoming a
reader in infancy. Learning to read begins with communication skills that begin
early in life and are referred to as emergent literacy skills. From birth to
age three, babies and toddlers make sounds that imitate tones and rhythms of
adults. They also begin to associate words to meanings, listen to stories,
recognize characters, recognize print, and begin to produce some scribble that
begin their foundation to future writing skills. By age four, children attempt
to read and write and begin to understand that print carries a message. By
kindergarten, children begin to use descriptive language to explain or ask
questions, and are able to retell stories. By age six, in first grade, children
begin to predict by using visual cues and pictures, read some things with ease,
and are able to identify many words by sight (Reading is Fundamental (RIF), 2014) . All of these early
stages of learning to read incorporate the five components of effective reading
instruction and are the foundation for learning how to read. These five
components are phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, fluency, and reading
comprehension.
Phonics is the connection between sounds and
letter symbols. It is also a combination of these sounds and symbols to make
words (K12 Reader, 2008) .
Phonemic awareness
is closely related to phonics because both involve the connection between
sounds and words. By recognizing sounds as a baby, early phonemic awareness
skills are being developed. While phonics is the connection between sounds and
letters, phonemic awareness is the understanding that words are created from
phonemes. Phonemes are small units of
sound in language. Phonemes are learned before a child begins to read because they are
centered on the sounds of language rather than written words (K12 Reader, 2008) . Some ways phonemic awareness can be taught to children is through
reading and singing songs and poems.
Vocabulary is an essential skill in reading
because in order to read, you must first know the words within the text.
Vocabulary development begins in early childhood. Children learn the meanings of words through their conversations with
their family and other adults. They also develop vocabulary as they read on
their own and listen to adults read aloud (WGBH Educational Foundation, 2002) . In school, students
can develop reading and oral vocabulary during read-aloud or shared and guided
reading sessions.
Fluency is a person’s ability to read with
speed and accuracy. Fluent readers do not concentrate on decoding words. They focus on
what the text they read actually means. When a reader is fluent, they recognize
and comprehend words at the same time effortlessly (WGBH Educational Foundation, 2002) . Shared reading in
school and at home can help beginning readers develop fluency.
Comprehension is the main reason why
we read. It is the understanding of the text that was read. Children begin to
comprehend stories as toddlers when their parents read to them. Their
comprehension skills continue to grow as they grow. If one reads and doesn’t
understand what was read, then in reality they aren’t really reading.
It is important for parents to work
on literacy skills with their children early on in order for them to be able to
develop the five components of effective reading. During early
speech and language development, children learn skills that are important to
the development of literacy (WGBH Educational Foundation, 2002) . Parents who encourage reading and writing are
setting the foundation for a successful reader/writer in the future.
References
K12 Reader. (2008). The Five Essential Components of
Reading. Retrieved October 1,
2014, from Reading Instruction
Resources: http://www.k12reader.com/the-
five-essential-components-of-reading/
Reading
is Fundamental (RIF). (2014). Literacy Milestones from Birth to Age Six.
Retrieved October 1, 2014, from
Literacy Resources:
http://www.rif.org/us/literacy-resources/articles/literacy-milestones-from-
birth-to-age-six.htm
Roth, F.,
Paul, D., & Pierotti, A.-M. (2006). American Speech- Language- Hearing
Association. Retrieved October 1, 2014, from Let's Talk For People With
Special Communication Needs :
http://www.asha.org/public/speech/emergent-literacy.htm
WGBH
Educational Foundation. (2002). Teacher resources and professional
development across the curriculum. Retrieved October 1, 2014, from Essential
Components of Literacy Development
:
http://www.learner.org/libraries/readingk2/front/components.html
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