"Reading is the subject of much concern and debate in education. What makes a good reader? What makes a poor reader? How can I help a struggling reader?
While there has been a good deal of research on reading, most of it focuses on explaining reading problems with very little on possible treatment.
Some of the research has been surprising. I think we were all surprised by the research that showed that reading to children at an early age, does not necessarily make for a good or early reader. In fact, sometimes
reading to children can cause just the opposite: something referred to as “the broccoli effect.” This comes about if nightly reading is viewed by the parent and the child as a necessary chore. Can you hear the parent who crossly shouts, “turn off that t.v. and get in here…I’m tired and want to get this reading over with, NOW.”
If viewed as a daily “have-to” whether you like it or not, reading can actually turn-off a child’s love for the activity.
Two things that do show a strong correlation with good readers: early phonemic awareness, and parents who read for personal pleasure. Early phonemic awareness refers to how early someone actually demonstrates or teaches a child that a letter has a sound. The sooner that a child understands that letters symbolize sounds, the sooner he or she reads. But I think the biggest influence is the parents’ personal love for reading. Does the child see Mom, Dad, Grandpa, read? Is reading a value in the home reflected by accessibility to books? A parent or caregiver who demonstrates the joy of reading has the biggest influence on a child’s reading ability and life-long interest in reading."
please share how you teach your child to read while taking care of the emotional aspect as well. would be helpful for all parents that are trying to integrate joy and learning.
Great topic fatima786, I look forward to hearing what others say, too. :biggrin:
I think one of the most important things is what Doman said … to stop while they are still wanting more. I’ve taught my 4 boys to read. The 4th was the easiest so far. Our house is full of books and yet we borrow tons of books from the library every week. lol For the younger children I limit them to 3 books (so I can keep track of them). (Okay, sometimes we go to the library more than once a week…) But to get back to my 4th child, he asked me to teach him how to read. I hemmed and hawed and finally agreed . We’d do a short lesson (this was before I knew the Doman method) and quit. He’d have to come and ask me the next day or I might forget to give him a lesson. We used www.starfall.com and I told him he’d need to know the sounds the letters make so he could learn to read. He did a lot of that on his own. I read aloud to the boys during breakfast (often history or science related things, for homeschooling). I’d read to him if he asked nicely. Boy, the poor child, you’d think he’d get discouraged and not want to read. lol He is in kindergarten and reads at the 2nd grade level now (I think).
My 5th, the baby, usually wants me to keep reading, but I usually have to stop before he’s had enough. (I do warn him, “This is the last book, then I need to …”)
All 4 self-reading boys love to read. It is great to hear them laughing at something while they read. Then they’ll come running saying, “Mom, listen to this!” and read me a portion. I do the same to them. I start laughing and they’re all, “What? What? What was so funny?”
I don’t know if that was helpful at all. :unsure: I guess I’m just trying to say, relaxing and “being stingy” with my “teaching” (or reading) while sharing the joy of reading helped a lot. Oh, and the boys go through fits of reading. Sometimes they read tons and other times they are more interested in hanging upside down from a bar, skateboarding, drawing …. (We borrow books about those things from the library, too )
Quote from fatima786 “But I think the biggest influence is the parents’ personal love for reading. Does the child see Mom, Dad, Grandpa, read? Is reading a value in the home reflected by accessibility to books? A parent or caregiver who demonstrates the joy of reading has the biggest influence on a child’s reading ability and life-long interest in reading”
I completely agree with this, I personally think that the reason my child loves to read (though she doesn’t “read” yet ) is because she sees her parents enjoy this. this is my first hand experience in the power of “joyousness”. I also keep tons of books available at home within her easy reach . I add a new mix to it but have to keep certain staples in there like brown bear/Panda bear, melanie Watt etc.
I am glad that her love of books is not limited to chldrens books and will gladly thumb through my magazines and yell out alphabets and numbers while in the grocery store.
If you view reading a book as a chore or job or “education” even, the child will pick on that and sense the emotion attached to it.
good topic, fatima786
. We’d do a short lesson (this was before I knew the Doman method) and quit. He’d have to come and ask me the next day or I might forget to give him a lesson. We used