Parenting Australia

Learning to Read

I like to think I know a thing or two about young children and reading.  Other parents with pre school-aged children often ask me if they should start teaching their kids to read, and my answer is always NO.  When it comes to teaching young kids to read, I say DON’T.  I know that’s a controversial start to this post, but it is what I believe as a teacher, educational writer, literacy advocate, picture book lover and mother.  Let me explain...

Reading is a complicated process, and there’s an incredible amount of foundational work required before any formal teaching begins.  The stronger the foundations, the more solid the building will be.  Parents who rush to give their kids a “head start” without doing the ground work often do more harm than good.  Wise parents invest in the foundations instead, and do not push young kids to read before they are ready. 

Without doubt the best thing parents can do to support their child’s reading development is to read aloud to them daily.  Mem Fox, probably Australia’s best loved picture book author and vocal commentator on children’s reading, recommends children hear 1000 books read aloud to them before they are taught to read.  One thousand books sounds like a lot, but parents who read aloud to their children daily will easily cover this before their kids reach the age of four. 

It doesn’t matter how many times books are repeated either.  The “read it again” response from kids which leads to repetitive reading is actually really beneficial to their growing understanding.

Most parents don’t even consider the wealth of knowledge they are sharing with their kids as they read aloud to them.  As children listen to stories they learn that the same book says the same thing every time.  They see that pages turn from right to left, and start to recognise that text runs from left to right.  They become familiar with the style, structure, flow, sequence and language of narrative texts.  They make predictions about what will happen next.  They pick up clues about content from the cover, title, endpapers and title page.  Despite parents not doing any specific teaching, children do a remarkable amount of learning when they are consistently read to aloud.  The value of these foundational pre-reading skills shouldn’t be underestimated.  It’s also important for kids to see adults reading too, especially dads.

So, although I am qualified to “teach” children to read, I will not be doing any reading lessons with my own young kids before they hit school.  We explore books together every day.  We talk about words around us and read environmental print.  We enjoy trips to the library and value both books and reading.  And of course my kids see me regularly reading and writing too.  If either of them do read early it will be because they have naturally progressed beyond the foundation laid at home, and not because they were shown flash cards as toddlers.  Reading is an essential skill I of course want my children to master, but I know that the best boost I can give them is to invest in their pre-reading skills, and leave the teaching – for now.

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Catherine Oehlman is a SAHM currently being raised by a terrific toddler and a curious crawler. Her background in primary education, love of the mothering journey and compulsion for writing collide on her SquiggleMum blog. Cath encourages other parents from all walks of life to maximise the time they spend with their children.

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