Parents Aboard- How to Teach Reading and Spelling

Read Australia™ now offering free advice and support to parents regarding early reading development

2011-05-18T16:30:00.000-07:00

Please see http://www.facebook.com/ReadAustralia for up to date news and info relating to early reading development.

Emma
http://www.ReadAustralia.com

What do you see in your mind when you spell a word?

2010-02-26T14:04:00.000-08:00

If I ask you to spell the word 'hand' do you see a picture of a hand or the letters that make up the word hand ie h+a+n+d in sequence from left to right? Or both?

We plan to undertake an interesting study with children- alongside their natural language development.

Very early on children will see a picture of something- like a cat- and say the word 'cat' - as they know that this is the name of the object/ thing! They are able to link the two- picture with sound. When I say sound I mean that they give a sound verbally- it may not be the correct word- they may say 'horsie' if looking at a horse etc. However they will make a sound to represent the picture based on whatever
association they have in their mind.

We are interested to know the effect of showing babies and very young children the symbol that represents sounds that they are able to create. So if they can create the sound 'buh' with their voices and we, in a fun, relaxed manner show them a card with that symbol on it (ie the letter 'b') will their minds quickly learn to associate that sound - a sound in many words- with that symbol?
It doesnt matter if there is no understanding of the concept- that this is a sound in words- its the same as seeing a picture of a polar bear- they are unlikely to really understand what one looks like (size) smells like, how it moves, behaves etc. However they can learn that there is a word we use in language that represents that animal.

Why could this be really really important with regards to reading? We know that one of the best predictors of of reading ability is letter and sound recognition. When children know letter names and associated sounds- and understand that the words we speak are made up of sounds- they are well on their way to learning to read and spell.

We are currently failing- even one child who is left behind is too many- in Queensland for example around 1 in 5 children are not reading at the expected level by 10. So we need to go back and start preventing this. Let's start thinking outside of the box!

The focus for young children is on words- and speech- however we want children to know that we can make lots of different sounds with our mouths - buh pi fuh etc- and they are used within our words.

The next concept is that there are symbols used to represent those sounds, on paper. They have names- ie letters- however the important part here is that they represent the sound we use- and how words are created and broken down!

When I ask you to spell a word it is likely that, if a new word, you will 'sound it out'- and in your mind you know the symbols used. If I ask you to spell 'shop' you should know that although it is spelt 's+h +o+p- we actually spell it using 3 sound symbols- sh + o + p. You are a reader- and know that the sound sh is represented with s+h together.
You might see the letters in sequence in your mind. Because you have those skills. If a child doesnt know those symbols he will see perhaps a picture of a shop- but isnt linking the sounds with symbols to be able to spell. We need to promote those links- EARLIER!

So what would happen if we taught those symbols- alongside language development? They start making a 'buh' sound with their mouths- why not show them the symbol for 'buh' ie the letter b? This is not because we want little Einsteins, or because we are pressurising children- all we are doing is helping them to develop all of their senses and encourage brain stimulation- linking things we later want them to link in order to be able to read and spell well and with confidence.

What do you think?

Emma
Emma Hartnell-Baker BEd Hons. MA Special Educational Needs
Creator of 'Read Australia™
http://www.ReadAustralia.com

A Simple Guide to Teaching Reading and Spelling- Your Starting Point..

2010-02-25T03:30:00.000-08:00

Welcome all! I am in the process of creating a simple guide to Level 1 - which is the level Id like to see all pre-school and prep aged children achieve as early as possible bearing in mind their individual capabilities. I would like people to focus much more on creating opportunities for children based around their language development rather than age- and will be discussing in depth ways in which we can help children develop language skills, in another discussion.
Forget the end result - ie that children will love to read and have excellent spelling and writing skills- let's focus on giving children opportunities to understand concepts. If children are able to create the sound 'buh' then they are capable of learning the symbol that is used to represent that sound ie the letter 'b'. If they can look at a picture that represents something- eg a house- they can see a letter and learn it is used to represent a sound- make sure you do this with sounds they can create with their mouths. Generally 'muh' 'buh' etc.'

Please do also bear with me- and understand that this guide is subject to change. I hope to constantly edit it, so it becomes easier to understand and to use. Your feedback is invaluable-do let me know how you get on with it.
I am also creating a guide for parents of children who are 7+ and not reading and spelling with confidence- and also developing Level 2. Coming soon.....!

Let's start from the beginning- from a point children understand. Let's consider the concepts that are required by the children- so they understand what they are doing- and become readers who really understand the written code.

I'd like you to consider the following 3 concepts before you start doing anything with your child. The more you understand the easier it will be for you to explain it to your child, and to create experiences and activities to introduce and reinforce these concepts.

These concepts dont necessarily follow on from one another- although I have put them in the logical order. Be creative- just think about introducing them and reinforcing them wherever you can- in the car, supermarket, at the park! Make it fun- something you are exploring together.

1/ Spoken words are made up of sounds.

For children to understand what a letter is we first start by giving them opportunities to understand what we mean when we talk about sounds in words. Even at this stage you can start to break down words so children hear parts of words- eg ouch- could be 'ow - pause- ch' 'Harry- I made two sounds with my voice when I said that word!' At this stage dont write it down- all we are doing is focussing on what we are saying. We are introducing the words 'sounds' and the word 'word'!
So dont look at a letter and ask what sound it makes- letters dont make sounds (unless electronic!)
Children are ready for this when they are making sounds!
Repeat sounds, words, make up funny sounds- and use the word 'sound' as you do so. 'listen to this sound 'eheheheheheheooooooaaaahhh'
They can look at your mouth- you are introducing concepts relating to the sounds we make using our voices!

Follow on from this with the fact that sounds we make can be at the beginning, middle or end of words! So the sound 'b' (think buh, not bee) can be heard at the beginning of words we speak, in the middle and at the end! Listen for a sound in words- ask them to wave at your when your mouth creates the 'buy' sound for example- say 'banana, stable, grab'- emphaisising the 'buh sound. Dont just focus on beginning sounds. Let's not limit children.

2/ The sounds we make using our voices can be recorded on paper! Yeah! We can draw a horse to represent the picture of a horse- and in the same way we can draw the picture that represents the sounds we use in our words! When we say the sound 'buh' in words- at the beginning, middle or end- sometimes twice or three times in a word!- we can actually draw this sound- it looks like this! b
When you introduce this please draw it while they are watching- from the top down up and round- use this language. 'down, up and round'. Why not introduce correct letter formation while teaching them to read?
Put that picture on your fridge- whats this a picture of? The sound 'buh' !
Find pictures that have this sound in it- a picture of a banana, stable etc- you might even put a word with 2 of them- kebab!
Write the word for that object in black and put next to the picture- and the child can go over the b in red- doesnt matter if its messy. You want the 'buh' to stand out. Its all we are focussed on. The concept of a sound in words, and that we can represent it on paper. (the word 'letter' doesnt matter at the moment- although by all means mention it's nake- however we want the focus to be on the picture representing a sound)

If you see a capital B then point it out- this is the 'important' way to write 'buh'. So we use this picture/ symbol instead of 'b' when its someone's name- because they are important. Again show them how to draw this picture- of the important 'buh' Focus on lower case sounds in the early stages as this is mainly what they will see in the books you share with them, and when they see people writing.

Then introduce other pictures/ symbols of sounds- I have suggested 'buh' here- as its easier for me to write it down so you will understand I mean the 'buh' sound and not 'bee'- you can use any sounds.
You could then introduce s, i, t, p, n, a

3/ Symbols of sounds can be put together on the paper to create a whole word. We do this from left to right.

To introduce this concept they need to understand the previous 2 concepts- as we are going to put it all together.

Use only 3 letter words- and only 3 letter words that they can 'sound' out! eg b a t

Have cards with these pictures on them (lower case, all same height) and encourage the children to do it 2 ways:
.
The first is 'spelling. You say a word - eg pin- and the children work out which is the first sound- and find the symbol that represents that sound. That needs to go first- on the left. Then ask if they hear any other sounds when you say the word - say the whole word again... 'pin'... slowly- promouncing each sound clearly. They will usually then tell you there is a n (nuh)- so ask if its at the end or the middle? You have done this work already- so its not new. 'nuh' is at the end- so what sound is in the middle? Say the whole word again 'pin'. Help and encourage- you do it if they dont hear it pretty quickly. Then look at the word- pointing left to right- and with the children say the sound (verbally) as you point to the letters- quickly enough for the child to 'hear' that this word is 'pin'.
Always reinforce by doing the whole word at the end - and use your finger - pointing to each sound symbol as you say it, while saying the whole word. You could then get the children to trace the individual sound symbols (letters)- showing them how they are formed- eg 'up, down and around'.

The second way - the other way around- is reading! You create a 3 letter word from those sounds- eg 'pat'. Use the individual cards in order. Point to the card on the left- can you remember what sound we make with our mouths when we see this sound symbol? 'p' (short- not pee) Do that for the second- and then do 1 and 2 together- and finally look at the third and then put it all together. Point to the cards as you say the words slowly, left to right. Again, finish with the whole word.

So your child can 'read' and 'spell' lots of words using these 7 pictures of sounds!

pit, pin, sit, sat, bat, bit etc etc

Gradually add new ones- so you can create new words- and spell new words!

Eventually they will know all 26 sound symbols (letters of the alphabet) however it is more important that they understand these concepts than recognise all letter sounds. Go slowly and have fun! Play bingo, snap, pairs etc with your cards. Put them in a folder and make them special. Also put copies on the fridge etc. Remember though that the first concept revolves around the sounds we use in our words- we aren't starting from what's on the cards. They just represent the sounds- focus on getting children to 'hear' sounds in words first. Children who fail, or who have learning difficulties struggle with this- and all children benefit from lots of work this way around.

4/ When the children are fairly familiar with the above you can introduce the concept that some pictures actually represent more than 1 sound (that we make with our mouths)
Do you - as a parent- know which they are? Work it out! Ill give you 3. 'o'- as it 'hot' or in 'most' (so it can be 'o' or ow') g- as in got or giraffe (j) and x as in fox or exit (in exit it does sound differently- has ore of a 'g' sound) Sometimes accents also plays a part.

So up until now you have been using 3 letter words- that they can 'sound out'- so now you can use 4 letter words- however again they must all remain 'single' pictures. eg 'frog' is ok as all sounds are individual. Do not, in level 1 use symbols that consist of 2 sounds which together make a different sound- eg shut would be made up of 3 sound symbols ie sh + u + t.
We start intruducing these in level 2.
Of course if it comes up- suppose you heard the 'sh' sound in words- then show the children how you draw the picture for that sound 'sh'.
But at level 1 we want to keep it simple- and make sure they understand level 1 concepts.

Create mini books with them- made up of words that they can 'sound out' It doesnt matter if they cant write it- although that would be great- what matters is the auditory and the visual at this stage. No pencils required:-) Use fingers to trace however- on the table, in the air etc.

You can introduce a sight word in level 1 - the word 'the'. They can learn that this is the word 'the' by memory- Ill allow that (smile)- even though you will know that to me learning sight words in the early years is a sin.

This means you can create sentences (use the word 'sentence' - why not?) - eg 'The cat sat on the pin.' You could then draw the cat jumping up- and no reason you can add the word in big letters 'ouch !' and an exclamation mark to show surprise, shock etc. You can explain this word has two pictures- ou and ch (ow and chu). Even though they might not be ready- and some may be!- we can put it in here even though we are still at level 1. Its amazing how much goes in. And this is a concept- 'o' + 'u' sitting together = ou (ow)

I am adamant that at this stage children should not be given 'readers' to de-code that aren't de-codable by them at that stage. Yes, read to them and with them- but 'their 'readers should be 'readable' to them. If the words used arent within the above concepts them dont ask the child to 'read' them. All they will do it learn to guess and to memorise. We want to know they are de-coding!

Enough to be getting on with for now. I will be explaining all this on YouTube etc- so difficult to write! In the meantine have fun and tell me how you get on- and come down to one of my workshops if you get chance. Please do post questions and comments!

Em:-)
Emma Hartnell-Baker BEd Hons. MA Special Educational Needs
'Read Australia™ !'
http://www.ReadAustralia.com

Introducing Children to the Magical World of Reading and Spelling

2010-02-25T03:27:00.000-08:00

‘Introducing Children to the Magical World of Reading and Spelling’

A Message from ‘The Child Listener™’
Emma Hartnell-Baker BEd Hons. MA Special Educational Needs. Cert Life Coaching

“Reading competence is foundational, not only for school-based learning, but also for children’s behavioural and psychosocial wellbeing, further education and training, occupational success, productive and fulfilling participation in social and economic activity, as well as for the nation’s social and economic future”
AU National Inquiry into the Teaching of Reading 2005.
(View Summary on the Read Australia™ website)

When I first began specialising in child behaviour management over a decade ago I quickly recognised a correlation between poor literacy achievement and delinquency. I was not surprised therefore, in recent years, to read of some US states actually predicting future prison populations based on year 3 and 4 reading scores.
And yet when I have suggested to Head Teachers that they should re-consider how reading is being taught within their schools- as a way to not only improve literacy achievement, but also see improved behaviour throughout the school, you would think, by their reaction, that I was suggesting something really bizarre. Despite the lack of accurate estimates
on the overlap between literacy under-achievement and crime, the associated links however are well documented (e.g. McNee, 2004; Mayhew, 2003). So teaching all children to read early on has wide reaching benefits within society.

For the purposes of this letter I will presume that parents are interested in the initial stage of learning to read- however systematic phonics instruction is critical if children
are to be taught to read well, whether or not they are beginning to learn to read, or experiencing reading difficulties.
You might be interested to know of my experiences and qualifications within this field - as much of my work in recent years has been within 'behaviour management'.
In addition to being an Early Years trained teacher (with a Bachelor of Education with Honours) I also chose to undertake a Masters Degree that combined behaviour management with dyslexia. I have always taken a keen interest in what clinical studies and research show us about why children fail to read- however I have also actually taught young children to read- and this practical experience is invaluable to any litereacy specialist. I taught full time within primary schools (mainly within the 4-7 year old range) and was Head Teacher of two nursery schools for eight years- preparing the education programs and teaching the 2-5 year olds to read. This direct experience - combined with my understanding of research fndings- has resulted in the creation of the 'Parents Aboard' Program for parents of young children, and also the 'Fresh Start to Literacy' strand- with a focus on parents of children who are failing
at school- and particularly the 8+ age range. Even since first qualifiying as a teacher I have always felt that the involvement with parents has not been fully utilitsed- and this is especially important within literacy and behaviour management!

Within our current education system we are often so focussed on 'child based learning' and on constructivism (an established theory of knowing and learning rather than a theory of teaching) and teachers often do not realise that there is a serious lack of supporting evidence for its effectiveness in teaching children to read. Unfortunately one 'method' of
teaching reading- the 'whole-language' approach to teaching and learning - reflects this philosophy of learning, and has been the predominant approach for early literacy teaching and learning throughout English - speaking countries (Pearson, 2000; Westwood, 1999, 2004).
This approach assumes that children are inherently active, self-regulating learners who construct knowledge for themselves, with teachers needing to give little or no explicit decoding instruction. While this may be ok for many children, the ones we focus on at Read Australia™ are those who struggle - and on creating a new culture within Australia whereby these children do not need to struggle for long before receiving specific 1:1 help. Furthermore, I believe that if we change the way we teach, these children won't need that additional 1:1 help in any case! Reading Recovery has been scrapped- why not scrap the reason for needing it in the first place as well? This group can also include children who are from disadvantaged backgrounds who often do not have rich phonological knowledge and phonemic awareness upon which to base new learning.

Being taught using this 'whole language' method has the effect of compounding their disadvantage once they begin school. This is particularly the case for children from non-English speaking backgrounds, including Indigenous children where English may be their second or third language.
So why do so many people advocate their method- and use it? Results show over and over again that this does not facilitate literacy development and achievement for ALL children. Through Read Australia™ I am speaking out on behalf of the children being left behind.

The sounds in our language existed long before the letters. The written symbols of our language were invented to represent the sounds we have been speaking for centuries. Teaching children these sounds is easy when they are speaking- as they know those sounds- they are using them in words pretty much all day (don't we know it!) So we
need to teach them how the sounds we use (when we speak) are represented on paper ie how to de-code the written word. This is more commonly known as
‘reading’. In order for young children- who are very literal- to understand this concept we prefer to say that letters are pictures of sounds. We teach children
a horse makes a sound- 'nay'- so its difficult for them to understand what we mean when we say, for example, 'whats the sound 'a' makes'. A letter on the page doesnt
make a sound:-) So really think about how you are explaining things - so that they are understanding and not just repeating and memorising.
Everything we do is about keeping concepts simple- so we try to analyse everything we say and do with children, to check we are putting the message across effectively. .

While in Australia I have been astounded by how often children are sent home during their first year with 'sight words' and also with 'readers' that they cant possible de-code. If they were asked to come home and practice fine motor skills by painting a Mona Lisa we would think the teachers mad- they arent ready for that yet? So why are we doing it with
'readers'? Also, if we teach children 'whole words' (by asking them to learn sight words) we aren't teaching children that these words are based on the 'sounds' in words- but rather, we are relying on memory.
Let me put this into perspective- a typical person can only retain around 2000 - 3000 words- enough to perform at year 1 level. However by memorising children will soon start forgetting those words, and run out of ways to guess and memorise. It will become harder for them to distinguish 'horse' from 'house' etc because they are trying to remember
the whole word and it's becoming more difficult as more words are introduced and used. So instead we should ‘keep it simple’ and teach children the individual sounds that make up words- of which there are just 134.
If they are going to be given 'sight' words to learn we'd rather it be the handful of words that can't be de-coded eg yacht'. There are 55 words in the English language that they won't be able to de-code. The other 19,950 that we use daily are predictable and decodable however! - if the 'code' is understood. So it's important we teach children that way round.

We need teachers to understand why this method (teaching children to actually crack the written code) is most effective for the highest number of children so that they more proactively create opportunities- both direct teaching and also through play. They need to offer children opportunities to focus on the words they form verbally, and how they create these words- through rich play opportunities encouraging dialogue, and increasing verbal intelligence. Children need to begin to recognise the link between their verbal dialogue, with the words and particularly the letters (pictures of sounds we use within our verbal language) that are used to create these whole words. Through Read Australia™ we will be sharing this information with parents- as there is much to be done in every day life at home in those early formative years. Exciting work is currently being undertaken, for example to discover how simply increasing the attention to environmental text can affect literacy development. At Read Australia™ we plan to research yet more aspects of the fascinating field of early literacy development- we hope you will join us in our journey of discovery!

There needs to be a focus on explicit teaching of the structure and function of written and oral language in ways that allow children, regardless of their backgrounds, to reflect on and consciously manipulate the language. This involves an awareness of phonemes, syllables and morphology- and this requires a high degree of teacher-centred presentation of learning material, with an emphasis on explicit instruction, scheduled practice and feedback (e.g. Center, 2005; Westwood, 2003, 2004). This method asks more of our teachers- and provides children with a greater chance of success. A great learning environment for young children is one where the focus is on the picture of sounds - and not the letter names. It is one in which children are taught to understand how words are built up using pictures of sounds (spelling) and also how we can put on paper the sound we use in words (in order) to create a record of that word (spelling) To make this even easier we recommend writing whole words using bold and non bold type face - even when parents and teaching are at level 1 and only using single pictures of sounds, and the words that can be created from them- eg cat. pin, hot etc The parts of words that are in bold are where the sounds in the words we are speaking are represented by two or more sounds (that change when put together) eg this - the th is in bold as the 't' and 'h' together are how we represent the 'th' sound. 'i' and 's' are separate. So teachers will discuss with the children how we ‘spell’ the word ‘this- ie that the whole word has been created using 3 pictures of sounds- because the picture for the sound ‘th’ we create verbally is written as ‘th’. So they would ‘read’ the word this as ‘this’ ie th + i + s.

You will notice as above, and in the program that the focus is on lower case letters as these make up most of the text children see- and for the purposes of teaching them to de-code we have to focus on lower case letters. We dont completely ignore upper case/ capital letters- children will see lower and upper case letters together on wall displays etc and use them in 'important' words- like their names. We prefer to initially make sure they have learned the pictures used to represent the sounds we use within the spoken word in lower case letters. Some children learn the names of letters quickly- and the corresponding 'sound' they represent - but some dont, particularly boys. So if they do then run with it-
if not, then let's make sure they are learning the most important aspects- the rest we can take case of when the child has grasped the most important concepts. So other than writing names using capitals, focus on lower case letters even within simple sentences.

I plan on undertaking clinical studies - researching how the use of bold typeface, or even using colour or multiple fonts, can help children more easily recognise how words are created (spelling) or broken down (reading) in the English language. I believe that this will be especially helpful to children of whom English is a second language, and also children with learning challenges such as dyslexia- however I think it can help all new readers understand concepts more easily. This helps children focus on how the pictures of sounds (letters) sit together to create a word and moves them away from only seeing the word as a 'whole' word during the initial stages of learning to read. We would opt to do it for all - not just those who are failing.
We will also create 'readers' using words that are written with the same spacing, but split into chunks- with letters (pictures of sounds) in bold when they become changed when put them together with other pictures of sounds. For example the word ‘out’ would be written out with the ‘ou’ in bold as the o+u lead us to say a different sound (ow). As this is a
fairly difficult aspect to describe in text, please refer to the DVD and YouTube video (available shortly) We will be doing this within 'readers' so that we can put the concepts intruduced within actual books. Comprehension (understanding) is a big part of reading - and so we try to ensure that words are being ' read' or 'written' within the context of something of meaningingful.

.
When the children have learned to recognise even a few pictures of sounds they can start to read and spell words! Initial 'readers' would be books that have text that doesn't have many words that have bolded text- eg 'a fat rat ran past' (which as you will see is a sentence created using just 7 sounds). All words other than 'the' should be de-coded in these early 'readers- so the children are actually reading the text. We do strongly believe that early readers find this way of viewing text much easier- it makes sense to them! -so please do try this at home and in your classroom if you are a teacher or early years educator and let us know what you think. Make them yourselves or order them from our online resources page. Ideally resources created are also personal to the children- making them more meaningful- starting from a selection of 7 sounds and working on the concepts required so that they can start to crack the 'written code'. It doesnt really matter which you start with - but use seven that enable you to create the most words. Also create nonsense words- so that children understand that these
pictures of sounds can be manipulated to make a range of words- even new ones!

When confident within Level 1 (available soon) children would be given a mixture of books as 'readers'- because their success rate (de-coding, not guessing) will still be good. Initially however children in these 'ideal classrooms' would only be given 'readers' that they can de-code. They should of course share 'real' books - or books that have not been
developed using phonics- with older children, parents etc- however to learn to actually read children would be taught the skills to do so- and part of that is actually understanding why we write words as we do, and why we spell them as we do. We absolutely believe that parents should be reading books to children- as many as possible- and that there are
skills that should be taught to you as parents (also available shortly online) to ensure that they are being as helpful to children as possible- however there is no evidence to suggest that reading to your child will actually result in them learning to read purely because of this. If you were given thousands of books with chinese symbols and someone told the stories of these books, would you think you would learn to decipher the exact meaning of each of those symbols? And even if you could- wouldn’t you prefer to actually be taught those symbols in a systematic, and meaningful way?
Keep it simple!

If we look at the AU Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy 2005 (or Rose Report, UK etc) we see that recommendations support this. Much of how literacy is currently taught within the UK was as a result of the Rose Report - and as a former OFSTED Inspector and Early Years educator within UK I can see huge differences between the UK and Australia
- and especially Queensland.
A school in Scotland used the Jolly Phonics program as part of a 7 year study and their results, compared to the national average, were staggering. This led to the government taking a closer look into how children were being taught to read, so that recommendations could be given based on observations, results, and research. The Rose Report was born! Since then an Inquiry was also undertaken within AU- with virtually identical results and recommendations made- and educators began to more proactively embrace the use of synthetic phonics. For some reason this document seem to have been ignored- and at Read Australia™ we are not really sure why? Parents can still use the summaries however, to get the idea of what teachers should be doing.

'Read Australia™' was created to empower parents so that they can be more effectively and proactively involved in their children's literacy development regardless of where they live or which teacher their child has the fortune or misfortunate to have in the first few years.
Governments have been researching this topic because children were (and still are) failing- and teachers needed clearer direction. Teachers should no longer be allowed to get away with using their own preferred method, or systems they've been using for years because research and clinical studies show us these aren't meeting the needs of our children. Some teachers of course ARE providing opportunities for children - and ensuring that all children are being taught phonics explicitly- however many still aren't- and children shouldn’t suffer because of this.

If children in the early years see letters and say the name instead of the sound even when asked what it is a picture of (ie what 'sound') then I become concerned. Why? We don't say see-aye-tee when we say cat! They need to know the sounds of the alphabet - not their names- as their names are meaningless with regards to spelling and reading the English language. Keep it simple!

Good readers understand the code so that when they come across words they have never seen before they actually break them down. If adult readers are given unfamiliar text that is what they will find themselves doing also. Some children ‘crack the code’ quickly even if not being taught well- however there are many others that don't- especially boys.
These are the ones we are concerned about- and need to be identified as early as possible. If children are great at spelling words- not just for a test ie from memory- it’s because they understand how words are broken down and also understand how the sounds we use to speak- to form words- are created. For example they will give you all the versions when asked to spell the word 'brown'. They wont just give the 'correct' spelling- they will also tell you that it could have been written 'broun' if we were to put the other 'ow' sounds within the word- or if asked to write 'same' they would give 'saym, sayme, saim, saime,' etc - or 'fur' would also be written 'fir or fer'.
I have always done lots of work with children using 'real' and also nonsense words as I want to know they really do 'get' the code.

The written word relates to our spoken word- so children must become aware of the sounds in words verbalised- as they hear them. Many children we assess for example
will have difficulty hearing that there are 4 sounds in 'frog'-or knowing what the word would be if we said 'frog' without the 'r'. They haven't practised listening to the words
we are speaking- and knowing how to written them down, with the individual pictures of sounds in the correct order.

Something many teachers do unfortunately- not realising this makes it really difficult for children who aren't picking this up quickly- is that they put two sounds together that should stay separate. So children put for example 'fr' instead of 'f' and 'r'. We need to keep it simple - if the two sounds change when put together then that's fine - if not keep them separate.
So 'shop' has 3 sounds - sh o p - but frog has 4 sounds ie f + r +o + g

At this point Id like to again raise the issue of how you use the word 'sounds' with young children- eg here’s the ‘a’ and he makes an ‘a’ ('ah!) sound. It actually doesn’t. A cow makes a ‘moo’ sound – a letter in print doesn’t make a sound. Teacher’s working with young children will understand my point- it’s the same as trying
to count young children sitting in a circle. Many get very annoyed if they are the number ‘4’ because they aren’t 4. As much as you say we are counting, and in this situation you are number 4, all she knows is that she’s not 4! Pre-school and Prep aged children in particular are so literal. So when we say that something on paper makes a sound
they can find this difficult to understand and will recite, parrot fasion that ‘a' (ay) makes an‘a’ sound - but have no idea what that means. They are memorising something
- like a song- with no understanding of the meaning of it. As we are all about ‘keeping it simple’ we’d prefer to keep the way in which we talk to children accurate, and simple.
So we prefer to say that this is the picture of the sound (put whatever you want here) and this it the letter name. So ‘ay’ could be shown as the name of the letter – ‘ay’ is used as a picture for us to draw/ record the sound ‘a’. Please see DVD/ YouTube Video explaining this – it’s easier to understand when you hear me explain it than on paper.)

We also take time talking to children about why we have text- its to put on paper to record what we are saying. The words come first though- so focus on language, and its logical then when we are explaining how to record it on paper. We are using pictures for the sounds! The code is made up of lots of pictures of sounds. Some are single pictures- ‘a’ – some pictures have two or more of these letters ‘ou’ ‘igh’ etc. We start from single pictures and build up- simple! The suggested progessions are given within our new guide- released shortly- entitled 'Parents Aboard'. This is because we want parents to do as much as they can before children start school- we want you to climb aboard and practively embrace the learning journey.

Looking for letters, and learning how to form them, can happen virtually everywhere- use environmental print, and search for words in the world around us. A section relating to
letter formation alongside letter recognition is being created as a separate document and also available within the Parents Aboard Program.

Children should be tested when they start school- and this should be on-going, to assess individual progress. Objective, standardised diagnostic tests that assess the essential alphabetic, decoding skills required for reading proficiency are available to teachers- however seem not to be fully utilised. In order to meet the needs of all children we need to use methods that meet the needs of all children from the beginning - not give them phonics instruction when they are failing at 7 or 8 as a way to help them ‘recover’.
We KNOW what to do- research relating to how children learn to read, why some fail and what we can do about it, is readily available. So within the Parents Aboard Program we
also share this information- information how to assess your child's level of understanding and know how to look for the signs that they are likely to struggle.

In addition to actually putting this knowledge into place we need to pay much more attention to individual children. Teachers should know how each child is developing in all aspects of reading and spelling, from their first day at Prep and should be sharing this with parents. We at Read Australia™ believe that it is not fair for children to be at the mercy of ‘luck’ – or that parents should be in a position of hoping their child’s teacher understands why some children fail, how to recognise these children early on, and what to do about it. This is why Read Australia™ are creating the ‘parents Aboard’ Program- to empower parents and arm them with the tools required to teach their own child to read, and the knowledge that will enable them to demand that their children receive reading instruction that will meet their needs.

So please join us and ensure all children are able to read and spell quickly - we owe them this as parents and educators.

Read Australia™ will soon fully launch the ‘Parents Aboard’ Program- linked with what we affectionately call Kiss PhoniX – our focus being on‘keeping it simple’. In the meantime please do add your comments and ask questions within this 'Parents Aboard' chat group!
Parents will be able to start the program at any age- however we have found that when children reach the age of 2 this is when they are most receptive - in the same way that they are able to learn two languages at home, and not be confused. As mentioned previously, think of ‘reading’ and ‘spelling’ as being directly linked to language- so if you child is speaking,
he is ready to start understanding how we record what sounds he is making. This also leads on to the idea that the richer the language is at home- and the more practive parents are with regards to developing verbal intelligence,the easier it is to develop all literacy skills.

As ‘The Child Listener™’ I am passionate about children- and in helping them develop to their potential in all areas. Reading and spelling is not something ALL children can do alone. Put children on an island together – from different countries- and they will develop their own language. They will never develop a written code however. We need to change our approach to the teaching of reading, writing and spelling and be more aggressive in our approach to demanding that all children are given the best opportunities to learn. Parents/ carers are the best resource for children- and so rather than focus on the education system- the focus at Read Australia™ are parents. So come aboard- and let’s start making real changes across Australia- eventually the education system will catch on, and alongside parents will start meeting the needs of every individual child within Australia.

Keep supporting and loving our children, and we will support you- welcome to our community!- a Fresh Start to Literacy!

Emma

Also known as The Child Listener™
http://www.ReadAustralia.com 'Raising Literacy Standards- Empowering Parents' http://www.The-Child-Listener.com 'Learning to Listen and to Lead'