When should children start learning how to read?
It is important to remember that learning to read only begins in the first year of primary school. Thus, kindergarten is used to screen for difficulties in adapting or learning and to introduce the child to school reality. In the Quebec school program, a section on “reading” only appears near the end of preschool. It is situated in the progression of learning, namely: the beginnings of letter recognition. (Pfeq, 2001). Thus, it would be completely false to believe that all children absolutely have to learn to read or know how to read before kindergarten.
Everything is a question of prevention. So why is it that learning to read prevents learning difficulties at such a young age? Is it only because a child who has already navigated different adventures and the outcome of stories is less likely to be confused?
If we look at the situation from another angle, we realize that it is because the child will be able to understand the different stages of a story. This will help him organize his thoughts. According to studies done by a neuropsychologist in Norway in 2012, when parents teach their children to read, by reading them small books before kindergarten this allow them to:
- Stimulate the imagination
- Awaken phonological awareness
- Establish basic knowledge (beginning and end of a story, how to hold a book, reading from left to right, etc.)
- Become familiar with letters
If I don’t develop my child’s reading skills, will he have learning difficulties?
No concrete study shows a link between the absence of literary stimulation and learning difficulties. However, all studies agree on one thing: awareness of reading from an early age improves the learning process.
Learning to read, a shared role between parents and teachers
Is your child having trouble learning to read? His teacher may have asked you to read to him as much as possible at home. Some parents find it useful, while others prefer to let the school take care of literary learning due to a lack of time or interest.
Here is the difference between the role of the teacher and the role of the parents in order to better understand the benefits that reading at home will have on your child.
The teacher’s role
Educational practices strongly encourage teachers to use literature as a teaching method rather than just a medium. Have you ever heard of “Cinq au quotidien” or “Les réseaux littéraires”?
These are courses offered to teachers in order to help their students develop their literacy autonomy. Otherwise, you can consult Youtube or Google. These are just two examples of many of the efforts made by teachers to help your child learn to read gradually.
The parents’ role
Although teachers give themselves, body and soul in class, you, dear parents, can have a lot of influence on your child’s motivation at school. Several articles show that a child’s academic success is closely linked to the motivation and commitment of his parents. Reading at home is not only important, but essential! In order to help your child learn to read, you therefore need to be truly involved. Collaboration between parents and teachers is key in your child’s learning process.
Why is my child having reading comprehension problems?
Too often, we get the impression that our child has reading comprehension problems because he is not making an effort or because he’s trying to read and answer questions too quickly. But what if it was more than that? If there was a cause at the source of reading comprehension problems.
“Reading isn’t that complicated though!”
Think again! We don’t realize the work our brain does when we read. As an adult, reading is made automatic and we no longer see all the processes necessary to come to understand what we read.
When you read a story, this is what happens: you have to decode (read) each word, understand vocabulary words and sentences, make connections between sentences to understand the overall message, make inferences (deduce information that is not written; for example: the leaves are colored so I deduce that it is autumn), select the important information to remember and so on.
Furthermore, reading comprehension would not be possible if we didn’t ask ourselves questions (ex: Who is the main character? How does the boy feel at the end of the story? Why did the girl go to the woods? Where is the story happening?). Your child therefore needs to understand what he is reading, then understand the questions asked and then answer them. Do you understand all the language skills that are needed?
Language difficulties may be the source of the problem.
It’s important to know that several types of difficulty can lead to reading comprehension problems (e.g. difficulty paying attention, difficulty remembering, learning disability, dyslexia).
How do you know if language difficulties are causing your child’s reading comprehension problems?
1. Make sure your child understands the questions asked
How? or What? Ask your child to rephrase the question or tell you what information needs to be verified to see if he understood the question correctly.
2. Make sure your child understands the vocabulary words and expressions used in the text
How? or’ What? Ask your child about vocabulary words or expressions in the text (ex: scary: what does it mean?; He has turned tomato red: what does the author mean by that?). If your child doesn’t understand several words in the text, it is obvious that it will be more difficult for him to identify the meaning of the overall content. It’s like reading a text with words from another language, comprehension is more complex in this scenario.
3. Make sure that your child understands the overall meaning
How? or What? Ask your child to summarize the text he has just read. You will then see what he understands, if he can report the important things and if he reports right or wrong information.
If your child has reading comprehension problems and you think he has language difficulties, the speech-language pathologist and language stimulation agents are here to help you. They will be able to tell you if reading comprehension problems are related to language difficulties and will be able to help your child. You can also hire a tutor to help your child apply reading methods.
The best reading strategies
Reading, which seems so simple as an adult, is very complex for a child. So make sure you know the learning stage of your child according to his age. If you understand where he is at in his learning process, you will be able to guide him better.
Preschool age (4 to 5 years old)
- He makes connections between sounds and letters;
- He understands that his ideas can be written on a page;
- He understands that text can tell a story.
Beginner reader
- He identifies words and understands that when you put several words together, they make sense;
- He can predict the continuation of a story or a sequence of events;
- He is interested in various kinds of reading and makes it his own activity;
- He makes connections between his personal experience and a story he has read.
Capture his attention
Does your child have difficulty reading or spelling? Kill two birds with one stone to help him overcome these two weaknesses. To do this, during the reading period, draw his attention to various alphabetical concepts. Here are some ideas:
- Capital letters
- Dots
- Bold words
- Titles
- Accents
Make a distinction between homework and reading time
In order to make the most of the time spent on school learning, make sure to make a distinction between reading/spelling and homework. If you give too much importance to reading and spelling, your child will lose his focus on the theoretical content of his homework. It is best to help your child read during homework and be 100% focused. This way, he will be able to remember and understand what you have worked together.
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