Encouraging your child to read and write
Baby is now in Year 1, which is the second year of formal schooling in the U.K. This term the school introduced the weekly spelling test as a means to keep track of a child's progress in literacy. Baby is average in terms of his ability to read and write- adequate for his age group- but lately I have noticed a change in his level of interest in reading and writing which I think will aid him progress.
For reading, this heightened interest coincided with the introduction of books on subjects that interested him. Regular reading was introduced last year (in his Reception year)- the books are graded and children are promoted to more difficult reading material if they manage to read a number of books at each reading level. Part of Baby's increased interest coincided with his expanded vocabulary- the books talk about more interesting things because it is possible to do so. In short it is worth helping children through the initial pain of reading simple things that they might not find particularly interesting because it will enable them to discover more interesting books relatively soon. The alternative way to look at this is we probably need to write better books to catch children at the early stages.
With the reading and training in the use of phonics came the ability to spell. The teachers do a great job of engaging the children in writing practice and there is a visible improvement in Baby's handwriting. However, writing is not just spelling and being able to use a writing implement- it is about being able to communicate thoughts. Baby tends to write a single sentence in the writing assignments given by his teachers, if left to his own devices. With some pushing from me and the teachers, he might add another one. Today, I stumbled on an activity that made him want to write. I asked him to write his cousin's address on the envelope for a gift that we wanted to send to his cousin. He was extremely excited to learn that the package got to his cousin. We were preparing to send something else to his cousin this weekend, and Baby asked to write his cousin a note. Without encouragement from me, he wrote him a decent note asking a few questions and included some information about himself. I took from this, that as with reading, make the exercise something that is relevant to the child and they will want to do it. In both instances I see evidence in support of education theory on the power of/need for authenticity of learning opportunities.
For reading, this heightened interest coincided with the introduction of books on subjects that interested him. Regular reading was introduced last year (in his Reception year)- the books are graded and children are promoted to more difficult reading material if they manage to read a number of books at each reading level. Part of Baby's increased interest coincided with his expanded vocabulary- the books talk about more interesting things because it is possible to do so. In short it is worth helping children through the initial pain of reading simple things that they might not find particularly interesting because it will enable them to discover more interesting books relatively soon. The alternative way to look at this is we probably need to write better books to catch children at the early stages.
With the reading and training in the use of phonics came the ability to spell. The teachers do a great job of engaging the children in writing practice and there is a visible improvement in Baby's handwriting. However, writing is not just spelling and being able to use a writing implement- it is about being able to communicate thoughts. Baby tends to write a single sentence in the writing assignments given by his teachers, if left to his own devices. With some pushing from me and the teachers, he might add another one. Today, I stumbled on an activity that made him want to write. I asked him to write his cousin's address on the envelope for a gift that we wanted to send to his cousin. He was extremely excited to learn that the package got to his cousin. We were preparing to send something else to his cousin this weekend, and Baby asked to write his cousin a note. Without encouragement from me, he wrote him a decent note asking a few questions and included some information about himself. I took from this, that as with reading, make the exercise something that is relevant to the child and they will want to do it. In both instances I see evidence in support of education theory on the power of/need for authenticity of learning opportunities.
Comments
Post a Comment