Those of us who find reading easy, and enjoy it, find it difficult to understand how a child battles with reading.

Reading is, in fact, a complex skill to master. There are squiggles that represent sounds and letters, and we combine these together to form a word. Words are combined to form sentences which have meaning. To confuse matters, English has tricky or exception words. Find the f in enough!

Recent brain scanning research has shown that auditory, visual and motor functions must be activated and co-ordinated simultaneously whilst reading. This allows the neural bonds between letters and sound combinations to develop, which is vital to the reading process.

A hiccup in any of these areas, or the links between them, could result in a reading difficulty. Professor Max Coltheart of Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, advises parents to consider reading treatments that address all areas of the reading process, and whose results have been scientifically evaluated.

There is a direct relationship between phonological awareness and later reading success. We want children to notice sounds and manipulate them. This includes having fun with words, such as rhyming, playing I spy, listening to the beginnings, middles and ends of words, and being able to identify if they start or end with the same sound. Also, being able to take words apart and put them together assists in developing skill eg what is hotdog without the dog?

A love of reading is developed from having a positive connotation with books. Read bedtime stories snuggled under the duvet. Use this time to expand a childs vocabulary, explain unfamiliar words, and discuss what a character in the story would be feeling. Discuss interesting adjectives moving beyond nice, small, sad, and glad. These are things that can assist creative writing skills. Even homework reading can be done in bed, so that it becomes something to look forward to rather than a chore done while the baby is screaming and the dinner is burning.

If a child is static in his reading, re-read the passage. This will re-inforce new words and assist in giving him the practice and confidence needed.

In older children read material that is easy, challenging and hard. Reading from material that is easy, builds confidence and instils a feeling of I can. Kids feel very important if they can read to a younger sibling.

Read from material that is challenging, eg a school reader – material that is at an age appropriate level where the child is introduced to some new words, and his reading ability is pushed to improve.

Read from material that is difficult. This should be something that the child is interested in eg a book on dinosaurs or cars. Reading at this level should be assisted by the parent and is a good way of developing a desire to cope with more difficult material.

If your child is not coping, take steps to assist as early as possible. Speak to the teacher if you are concerned. Eliminate the obvious have ears and eyes tested. Have a reading assessment done to isolate the area of difficulty. Childrens reading should improve by a year for every 12 months that pass. If a child is not improving at this rate, the gap keeps widening between where they are and where they should be.

Reading is a fundamental skill that is required for all learning. Even children that are more Maths and Science orientated will require reading for story sums and tests. Addressing a problem in the early stages will avoid a reading problem from becoming a learning problem.

Angela Charalambous

The Workshop Reading Centre

011 763 5880

www.the-workshop.co.za

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