Teaching your child how to read and write should start at an early age. Luckily, there are many entertaining practices, so acquiring these skills doesn’t have to burden them. When they start school, your child will most likely be subjected to some research-based reading programs.
This should help young children relate written language to spoken language. Research-based instruction consists of a few components that should be adapted to students with different needs.
Expanding Written and Oral Language
This approach’s main advantage is that children will get an opportunity to hear about themselves and what surrounds them through oral language. Being confident with the sound of particular letters and the pronunciation of words goes a long way for enhanced reading comprehension.
Some entertaining and compelling practices are singing songs/chants and opening debates on hot topics that children can understand. This is a fantastic method to expand their vocabulary while raising their interest in active speaking and listening. The same goes for enhancing the use of written language.
When working with young students, it is vital to educate them on how written language is everywhere and how it is interconnected with spoken language. Once again, there are several excellent activities to practice this, such as educating your students on how to properly read a book, discussing the meanings of specific phrases, and focusing on writing patterns that they can memorize.
Understand Stories and Manipulate the Building Components
Why is reading stories out loud so important? It presents children with an opportunity to find out about new experiences and concepts and to improve their vocabulary in the process. Furthermore, as a parent, you should use specific words’ building blocks and guide your children to identify and create their patterns/rhymes.
This is a fantastic method of teaching them that phrases consist of several words. The same goes for writing practices, as quizzing your students on letter names and allowing them to write their sentences early on is an excellent way of promoting fluency and basic writing skills.
Reflecting and Decoding Stories
The main reason why reading is so essential for improving both oral and written language is that it allows children to understand that it isn’t just words on a paper. On the contrary, most stories have a deeper meaning and incorporate messages to better understand life.
With this in mind, it is essential to allow your students self-selected reading time. During this period, they can choose stories or books that interest them and have fun decoding the word patterns and analytically thinking about what they read.
Concluding Thoughts
In the end, we can’t deny the advantages of research-based reading for the development of oral and written language. Although it is something that educators primarily integrate into first to third-grade classrooms, our opinion is that it can be beneficial for older students.