So, you want to teach your child to read, but
before a child can learn to read, he or she must first learn at least
some of the letters in the alphabet, their names, and the sounds that
they represent. To be able to read, a child must be able to recognize
the letters, know the sound of the letters, and be able to recognize the
letters quickly and say the sound without hesitation. There is plenty
of discussion and disagreement on whether it's better to teach children
using whole language programs or using methods which incorporate phonics
and phonemic awareness instructions. I think the debate on this is
settled when the National Reading Panel stated from their findings of
reviewing over 1,900 studies that phonics and phonemic awareness
produces superior reading results than whole language programs.
There is also some debate on whether to teach
your child only letter names, or only the sounds which the letters
represent. However, studies have also settled this debate by finding
that teaching a child alphabet names and sounds together produces the
best results. In fact, studies have found that there is little value in
teaching preschoolers letter forms or letter sounds separately. This was
indicated by an Australian study involving 76 preschool children. The
children received 6 weeks of training in either letter awareness,
phonemic awareness, or control tasks, and then received another 6 weeks
of training in either letter-sound correspondence or control tasks. The
study found that training in either phoneme or letter awareness assisted
with learning of letter-sound correspondences, and that the
phonemically trained children group had an advantage on recognition
tasks. The study found that there is little value in training in letter
form or letter sounds separately. [1]
As you can see, there is basically no point in
only teaching either the names of the alphabet letters, or the sounds
the letters make. A child must learn the name and the sound of the
alphabet letter. When teaching your child the alphabet, instead of
simply teaching them the name of the alphabet such as "this is the
letter A", teach them like so:
"This is the letter A, and the letter A makes the
/A/ sound." (note: the /A/ denote the sound "A" makes, and not its
name). Similarly, you can teach your child the other alphabet letters in
this way including both name and sound of the letter. This is the way I
teach my children the alphabet letters. Other studies have also
determined that teaching the letter names and sounds together helped
children learn.
58 preschool children were randomly assigned to
receive instructions in letter names and sounds, letter sound only, or
numbers (control group). The results of this study are consistent with
past research results in that it found children receiving letter name
and sound instruction were most likely to learn the sounds of letters
whose names included cues to their sounds. [2]
To be able to effectively teach your children the
sounds of letters, you must first master the proper pronunciation of
the letters yourself. It is critical for you as a parent to be able to
first say the sounds of the letters correctly before teaching your
children, and this is much tougher than it may seem.
Notes:
1. J Exp Child Psychol. 2009 Sep;104(1):68-88. Epub 2009 Mar 5.
The genesis of reading ability: what helps children learn letter-sound correspondences?
Castles A, Coltheart M, Wilson K, Valpied J, Wedgwood J.
Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia.
2. J Exp Child Psychol. 2010 Apr;105(4):324-44. Epub 2010 Jan 25.The genesis of reading ability: what helps children learn letter-sound correspondences?
Castles A, Coltheart M, Wilson K, Valpied J, Wedgwood J.
Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia.
Learning letter names and sounds: effects of instruction, letter type, and phonological processing skill.
Piasta SB, Wagner RK.
Preschool Language and Literacy Lab, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, US
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