Learning to Read

Daddy went to a parenting talk conducted by MindChamps which was about Reading and how to get your kids to be a lifelong reader. Daddy is trying to give his own two cents worth on the topic on my blog for future reference. Here goes:

Reading at all stages is about understanding and applying. Which means it is not just about the words but the use of the words in the proper context, otherwise it is just sounds. Flashcards and words being read individually does not help the child to ‘hold’ the words in their heads and use it in the right way. Learning to read in that way is like giving the child pieces of bricks and expecting them to build a wall. Without first exposing the child to a wall and showing how the bricks fit together to form a wall, it is difficult to expect the child to build a wall correctly.

There are 5 key aspects of reading
1) Phonemic awareness (the flow of reading)(the different emphasis within a sentence)
2) Phonics (the sound of every letter and its blend with other letters in a word)
3) Fluency (no breaks in thought)
4) Vocabulary (exposure to different words and different structures)
5) Comprehension (how you piece it all together)

An expert reader is able to decode the words they read and its context automatically and read it with proper understanding, pronunciation and accents. The prcoess is so wried itno our barins taht eevn if teh wrods tehmsevles dont mkae snese, the raeder is sitll albe to undresntad the messgae. (The process is so wired into our brains that even if the words themselves don’t make sense, the reader is still able to understand the message)

Looks alien but amazing, most adults are still able to read it smoothly anyway.

This of course explains how people are able to read in chat language like Omg, ltns! Lets catch up k but I gtgn, busy im with my bff now, so cu n ttyl? (Oh my god, Long time no see! Lets catch up okay but I got to go now, busy on instant messenger with my best friend forever now, so see you and talk to you later?) It is just a matter of reading in a different context and structure.

If you could not understand any of the above illustrations, it is okay because it is not proper English but if you could, it just means that your brain has built up sufficient specific vocabulary and comprehension of the proper context to make sense of the sentence.

Brains are amazing processors able to decode tremendous amounts of information but why do some information seem easier to process and remember than others? Because in the process of decoding information, the brain always refers back to previous experiences and patterns to give a flow and meaning and structure to the piece of information. Lots of people start learning the alphabet via the alphabet song, which gives a good structure for ‘sticky memory’. Try singing the ABC backwards or to any other tune and it does not work so well. A child may not understand and use the alphabet yet, but they are already experts in the alphabet song because the more they listen to or sing the song, they are reinforcing a pattern and they become an expert locking the song into their memory.

‘Use it or lose it’ Do anything long enough and you pick up the expertise in that skill, whether it is reading and languages or anything else. So in short, the more you read, the better you would be in reading. Yet how is this information different from rote learning where you can recite a whole passage of Shakespeare for the sake of passing an exam but have no idea of its meaning and you forget it straight after the exams? This goes back to how the brain works. It sees patterns, it makes patterns, it understands the patterns, and it uses patterns in relating to and decoding new pieces of information. The act of reading itself is a pattern that the child can associate with positive happy thoughts or negative stressful thoughts.

A rote learner is like a piano player who is technically proficient but never plays a piano later because he is so sick of the stress and endless repetitions of the same scores to pass the exams and never wants to hear the same tune ever again. The learning does not 'stick'. A lifelong learner is like a Michael Jordan who practises his basketball shots everyday not because he has to but because he wants to, and he enjoys the process. It is so entrenched he can shoot a freethrow with his eyes closed.

How can a parent gain from this knowledge and guide a child to enjoy reading from the start? Good reading habits and attitudes, once formed are hard to alter. (That is the obvious point so how to correct poor reading habits and attitudes is probably a topic Daddy would discuss at length with other speakers in the future) Long before a child can read, (Reading requires comprehension, fluency etc and it is more than parroting words so proper reading usually starts between 5 to 7 years) the child can start to enjoy the act of reading and being read to. It starts with the parent spending quality time with the kids, interacting and bonding with the child over books, any books.

Start with reading things that catches the child’s interest, lots of pictures and sounds, like nursery rhymes, and things that they can pick up easily. Its all about the visual and audio stimulation at the start. The scope can then broaden to anything that catches the parents interest as a child can easily detect when a parent is not interested in the reading and they would switch off as well. Engage the child in cozy, close interaction. When the child is ready to let their imaginations soar, expose them to a broad variety of books and they can explore by themselves.

As a guide, the speaker recommends 1000 hours of reading before the child attends primary school. Given that a child attention span is probably half hour to a full hour per session, it means starting a child at 2 for 5 years to complete before 7 years old, at an average of 200 hours a year. If you can do it, great! But it sounds incredible and Daddy also reminds that reading should not be a stressful event of clocking up the hours. Think positive, think Fun Fun Fun!

Cheers to lifelong readers and hope that Daddy’s writing style has been entertaining enough to have managed to retain your attention until now.