In recent years, a lot has changed: technology has become more advanced and society has adapted in many ways. Yet, at the same time nothing has changed, many of us relate to each other in the same way, live our lives in the same way and dream in the same way.
Much like this, our schools have changed massively but also remain exactly the same. While children continue to face the same fears, challenges and successes throughout their schooling, what has changed include the way certain issues are handled and subjects are taught.
As a primary school teacher and parent I am very aware of these changes. One of the largest changes in recent years has been how reading is taught. With the introduction of phonics, things have gotten a whole lot more complicated – especially for parents.
Systematic synthetic phonics brought forward a whole new world of jargon and with it – a lot of confused and alienated parents. While there is no doubt about it – phonics is a fantastic teaching tool – the problem is that no matter how well you explain it, it often gives the impression that it can only be taught and accessed by so-called experts.
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I have seen many schools put on very useful and informative phonics information evenings which, despite the good intentions, have only served to muddy the waters. In fact, my wife Emma told me that during one of these evenings she had been excited at the prospect of reading with our eldest daughter but when the talk had moved onto phonemes and graphemes she was left feeling confused and deflated.
It needn’t be like this. As an educator working together with parents, I feel there are four effective steps we as parents can take in order to encourage our kids to read. Here they are:
- #1 Work with the school
The path toward outstanding progress in reading is best started in a collaborative partnership between home and school. Because schools can be vastly different in the way they teach and nurture reading, it’s important for parents to talk to their children’s teachers, even go into the school to observe. The more informed you are about what goes on within your child’s classroom, the better placed you will be to support your child at home.
- #2 Build a love of books
While it is imperative that you know what is being taught in your child’s school, it is not necessary to become a phonics expert yourself. You do not need to replicate what goes on in school! As a parent, your focus is to create an environment at home that will ensure success at school. Specifically, if your child loves books, stories, rhymes and/or facts, they will require the learning tools (both at school and at home) in order to read these materials themselves. Encourage them by reading together at home and giving them the types of books they love to bring to school.
- #3 Lead by example
Now in order to really build up a love of books within a child – to find that spark and fan it into a burning and relentless fire – it will take someone who knows the child in question. It will take a parent, a grandparent, an entire family. The easiest way to light the fire is to find another fire that is already alight. Start supporting your child’s reading habit early on by visiting a bookshop or the library yourself – buy yourself a book or borrow ten from the library. You may not like them all but no doubt you will find some that you really love. Then call your friends up and talk about the books you are reading and enjoying; write book reviews; engage in a debate with someone you know who prefers a different genre. Once you yourself become really passionate about books – you will be amazed at what this will do for your children.
#4 Keep your children engaged
The final step for encouraging a child’s love of reading is to protect that fire you have started – and to do so with confidence. This begins with the knowledge that listening to your child read is great – but it’s not the be-all-end-all when it comes to encouraging their reading. You can protect this flame by building on other skills that are related to reading. For example: as a parent you can read to your child or along with them; you can share books with them; you can sing songs with them; you can watch television with them; and ask them questions about everything you do together. Because you know your child better than anyone, use this knowledge to really get them hooked. Follow up on their interests by finding them books, magazines, anything with text that will catch their attention. Just by getting a child to talk to you about their day is an activity that will build their reading skills as well as support their reading comprehension for years to come.
A few words about Phonics
You may have noticed that phonics wasn’t a part of one of these above-mentioned steps. It’s not because I don’t think it is important. It is hugely important but it is only a small area of a child’s reading journey. If you are uncertain about what phonics entails, then by all means do some research and learn the basics. But the best way to become more comfortable with the role phonics plays within your child’s education, is to let your child become your tutor. In other words, get them to teach you.
With phonics, children are taught sounds in sequence and at the same time they learn some words that may not follow the phonetic rules. At any one time in the first few years of reading, your child will be learning a selection of sounds and a selection of words. They will be taught these sounds in a range of ways and given an opportunity to read them in words and spell words that contain them.
It can become tricky when the books they read contain sounds they have not yet learned or that are still unfamiliar to them. This is another reason why it is important that children are exposed to a wide range of books – so that they see and hear the full range of sounds within context. Encourage your child to tell you about the different sounds they are learning about.
If you remember being taught things differently, don’t be afraid to tell them this. By opening up and saying: “When I was at school, we learned about ‘Magic e’ and ‘Kicking k’ and ‘Curly c’. Did you learn about this at school too?” Statements like these will not displace anything they have already learned. In fact, it will help give them a broader understanding of reading.
The phonics scheme used at my daughter’s school is very different from those that I have taught in the past. Often, she has had to explain terminology to me and even help me to use it within context. By placing her in the role of the expert she has gone on to show me many more examples of her knowledge as well as how to apply it.
Burn baby burn!
To light that fire and keep it burning you don’t need to be an expert in anything other than your own child. If it’s fun for you, it’s almost certainly going to be fun for them too. Remember – the goal of learning to read is not only being able to fluently read words, but also to develop a true understanding and a critical eye for books. The first step to this always starts with a spark.
Love reading and love it together – and you may find that your collective enthusiasm for the written word begins to spread to those around you.
Thomas Russell is a parent, teacher and the creator of the website: Grow A Bookworm. Living in Cambridgeshire, England with his wife Emma and two daughters (aged five and one), Thomas has been a teacher for the past eight years and currently teaches pupils in year 1 and year 2. Ever since he was a child, reading has been a passion of Thomas’. As a teacher and parent himself, he enjoys helping other parents support their children and become passionate about reading too. He started his blog Grow a Bookworm as a forum for what he’s learned over the years – and to begin a dialogue with other parents who may need some reassurance as well as support.
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Great post! I was never a reader growing up but I hope I can encourage my child to be.
Loved this post!! And I can totally relate.. my daughter is 9 and the way reading is taught these days is so much different from when I was in school! I love when people promote reading in younger children, and your post was very informative.
Lovely article, and very useful advice about letting the child be the expert. I have a 6 year old who has been taught “phonics” at school and although it seemed complicated sometimes he often reads better than his 11 yo brother (who was not taught phonics this way).
Love this! It was one of my goals to make our girls fall in love with the written word. Great article.