Children need to know the alphabet names and sounds to help them acquire the skills needed for reading and writing. Learning the alphabet out of sequence is the best way for children to learn it. Sound knowledge is far more useful than knowing the letter name as this is the information children need to use when they read and write.
Print, alphabet and phonetic awareness, what are these?
Print Awareness
- knowledge that people read the print not just look at the pictures
- awareness of how to read a book; right side up, starting with the front page and continuing to the end of the book, the left page is read first and the text is read left to right
- understanding that words are separated by white spaces
Alphabet Awareness
- being able to recognise and name all the letters and make the letter sound
Phonetic Awareness
- knowing the speech sounds that correspond with the letter
- understand that letter sounds join together to make words
(for example, h-a-t)
Useful Reading Tips for Parents
Make sure you have a regular time to read each day at a time your child is not too tired. Listen to your child read to you, to begin with this will be mostly from memory. It may even be a creative retelling of the story using picture cues. When doing reading with your child discuss the title, discuss the setting of the story – Where is it? When is it? Is it true? Discuss the pictures and talk about what the book might be about. This is important because the reader needs to have background knowledge to be able to relate to the story before reading. “What is happening in this picture?” “What can you see?”
- at the emergent reading level encourage pointing underneath each word as it is read. It is important to provide the chance for your child to correct themselves if they make an error. An error is a word different from that in the text. A self-correction is when a child corrects their own error. This is great as it means the child is becoming independent
- wait before helping 10 seconds
- accept and praise attempts
- praise self-corrections
- suggest they read again from the beginning of the sentence if they are unsure of a word
- use the picture as a clue. Pictures are a very big cue for children so please avoid the temptation to cover the picture!
- use the beginning letter of the word – “how does the word start?” “Get your mouth ready to say it”
- ask one or two questions which encourage your child to think about the meaning
- if they make an error, but carry on reading, wait until the end of the sentence then encourage the child by using the following questions:
- does it make sense? Meaning/picture clues
- does it sound right?
- does the word look right?
- help your child with comprehension by asking questions while they are reading to you like, “what do you think happens next?”
- at the end of the story get your child to retell the story in their own words
Reading for enjoyment is important too so sometimes just listening to a story is great.
Make reading exciting
Re-read books
Choose books together
Read together daily
Model good reading behaviour
Get your child their own library card
Read lots of rhyming books as rhyme makes a huge difference to a child’s ability to read and spell later on
Understanding reading levels
Reading levels are colour coded from magenta to silver. Children move fairly quickly through the early levels but will spend longer on some of the higher levels as they consolidate what they have learned and build on comprehension and fluency.
Essential information for parents about writing
Learning how to write letters correctly from the start helps children to be able to effectively communicate their ideas. Some children learn to write letters incorrectly, often using capital letters in the middle of a word e.g. cAt. This needs to be ‘unlearned’ when they come to school which can sometimes be very difficult to correct.
In the School Ready Kids resource pack there is a letter formation booklet based on the handwriting taught from the New Zealand Curriculum. These will guide and support your child’s growing independence with their writing by modelling and encouraging correct letter formation.
Writing Support
How can I help my child when they are ready to write?
When your child is keen to start writing lots of letters and some words or keeps asking you how to spell something, it is a good sign they are ready. The following steps are how New Entrant teachers may support a child once at school and is a guide for you when helping your child at home.
- help your child to work out what they are going to write
- get them to tell you and then draw a picture to show their idea
- ask them to tell you the story they are going to write
- help them to verbalise the sentence more than once so it is set in their mind
- a handful of words are a good guide for a sentence. As your child says each word, touch a finger. A sentence should fit on one or maybe both hands, any longer and it is likely they will forget their idea before they finish
- check they know where to start, which way to go and that they leave spaces between their words – a popsicle stick is great to help children leave spaces. Spaceman is a great name for this!
- if they need a word they don’t know how to spell, get them to say the word slowly and see if they can hear a sound and find the letter on the alphabet chart provided in the School Ready Kids resource pack that makes that sound. Encourage what sound they can hear next
- be less worried about perfect spelling and more focused on the sounds they have heard. I would rather see ‘wnt’ than ‘went’ as they have heard the sounds themselves. If a child asks me “did I spell it right?” I reply with “I am so proud of you, I know just what that says”
- if they are writing well encourage them to write another sentence adding more details or events
- get them to read the story while writing to check that the story makes sense. Have your child point to the words as they are reading it back
There are lots of fun ways to encourage your child to write provided in the School Ready Kids Information Booklet – click here to visit the shop.