by Laura Berkowitz M. Ed.

“When will my child learn to read?”

Most parents do more than they realize to support their child’s journey toward reading.  In this article I hope to reinforce what you are already doing and add to a few more ideas to your repertoire with specific suggestions that go beyond the oft repeated: “Read to your child.”  As our children leave their toddler years and head into pre-school and then kindergarten, at some point most parents feel a twinge of anxiety as they wonder “When will my child learn to read?” Parents who had a difficult time mastering reading themselves might be particularly nervous about their child’s success at reading. Every parent wants the transformation from non-reader to reader to go smoothly for their child, (truthfully, we want EVERYTHING to go well for our children) and there are many things parents can do to facilitate the learning of this essential skill.  The bottom line is that children enter school with very different previous experience.  Studies show that one child in a class may have had over 1,000 hours of exposure to print while another may have had 0-10 hours. One child may have heard over 2,000 words per hour, while another has heard only 616.  This makes a huge difference when predicting which child will be a successful reader. Reading trajectories are established early and children on low trajectories tend to stay on those trajectories and fall further and further behind in school.  Despite a great early start, some students still struggle with reading, in the upper grades.  It is important for parents to know that all children can learn to read, though some may need specialized instruction from an expert reading teacher.  This means they learn differently NOT that they are less intelligent. Smart kids can have difficulty learning to read, but with proper support and instruction, they will become readers.          

Supporting Your Pre-School Child

Indeed, reading to your child and talking with your child are the cornerstones of his learning.  It is never too early to begin reading to your child.  Don’t worry about variety. Reading and re-reading the same few books hundreds of times (long after you’ve memorized them), provides important language experience.  Equal in importance to reading is talking with your child, especially in the early years when a child spends most of his time with one adult.  Talk to your child about the world around him, what he sees, smells, hears, tastes and feels.  Tell him the plan for the day, what you expect of him, whom you will see, etc.  Build conversational skills by listening to your child speak without offering corrections regardless of the logic or truth of his words, or the accuracy of his pronunciation.  These conversations build language skills, vocabulary, comfort, and confidence, and help form a bond between you and your child.  Also, spend as much time as you can manage giving your child your undivided attention.   With so many other demands on our time this can be a formidable challenge, but the benefits are immeasurable.  Good attention from a parent is irreplaceable in building a child’s self-esteem and confidence.  It tells him that he  is a communicator with something worthwhile to say.  These are your child’s first and most important lessons.

Few children have access to adult attention every minute of every day, but the good news here is that lots of important learning happens independently.   To facilitate this learning, when your child complains of boredom you can tell her to “Go read a book.”  Her response might be “But I don’t know how to read.”  To which you can say:  “Try having fun looking at the pictures and words” or “You can look at the pictures and tell your own story.”  Encourage your child to read to stuffed toys or other nonreal friends, and when you hear her chattering away in an empty room, just smile and know she’s practicing her language skills.  Preschoolers will look at books independently if the books are interesting and accessible, so make sure your child has a selection of books in her room, some in the playroom and a few favorites next to the potty.  Strategic placement of eye-catching or familiar books invites young pre-readers to engage in reading-like behavior.  Some children will be happy to read alone, but you may need to keep a few books tucked away in the kitchen, for those children who still prefer to spend most of their time right under your feet!

Just as there are things you can do to support your child’s journey towards reading, you can inadvertently impede this process.  Some words of caution: Be sure not to make comments that may create anxiety around the process of learning to read.  Don’t mention reading (or academic) difficulties you, your spouse or another sibling experienced.  Don’t refer to the process as “hard”.  If children worry, as many inevitably will, that they’ll never learn to read, you can respond with a comment like one of these:

– It may seem hard right now, but you are still little.

– I’m sure you’ll be a wonderful reader some day.

– When you go to school you’ll have teachers whose job it is to teach you how

to read.

– As you get older it will get easier and easier.

– Enjoying books is an important part of learning to read, and you really love

your books!

Finally, so much wonderful literature is now available on tapes and CD’s.  A great way to enjoy a well-told story is to listen to E.B. White reading one of his classics:  Charlotte’s Web, or Trumpet of the Swan.  The Little House on the Prairie series is also available, as are many others in your local library.  These are especially good for long car rides and when enjoyed by the whole family, provide opportunities for sharing and talking in ways that may not happen otherwise. Maintaining a relaxed attitude of invitation and fun is the key to creating positive, optimistic feelings about learning to read.

Part 2: Supporting Your Kindergarten Child