Finger Puppet support - preparation for reading
Developmental stages of reading
How do children learn to read? From listening… to speaking… to reading and writing. Spoken language in young children develops as a result of hearing and recognising sounds in their environment, and eventually recognising spoken words. Gradually, a child begins to relate an object to a sound (e.g. spoon). When a child first starts to speak, it mimics "approximated" sounds, which are reinforced when an adult responds. Over time, the sounds are refined until identifiable words can be used to communicate a need or desire.
Without comprehension, however, there is no communication. Understanding language (comprehension) stems from the earliest interactions between parent and child. Over time, the child's comprehension and vocabulary are developed by meaningful interactions with adults or peers in the child's environment.Conversing with children frequently, and interacting with them verbally every day, is extremely important in developing the first stages of literacy.
It is crucial that children also learn to listen: to follow directions, interpret meaning, and to interact socially. Well-developed listening skills aid concentration, and help with purposeful learning and problem solving skill – all essential elements in learning to read. A child who learns to listen and who enjoys being listened to will also value spoken language and will later appreciate the spoken word of stories and reading. It is also important that parents make language learning fun by including songs, rhymes, jingles, and stories in a child's day-to-day play.
The Finger Puppet Series addresses the importance of:
- reading storybooks to, and with, the child (sharing the parent read storybook)
- talking with the child (discussing the comprehension questions)
- developing vocabulary (selections of a few key words)
- songs and jingles (in selected titles in the series and in well-structured web support)
- having fun (enjoying a topic of interest to Australians – the natural environment).
A young child’s attempts at speech are a source of enjoyment and delight for adults. Over time, a toddler's early efforts at speech are refined into more accurate pronunciations of words and sounds. Words begin to develop a purpose for the child, and two- and three-word sentences start to emerge. Eventually, complete sentences may be formed. Although many children quickly learn to speak fluently, others may mispronounce certain words. Sometimes, parents become used to the way their child speaks, or believe it is "cute", and may accidentally reinforce mispronunciation. This can be problematic when a child later begins to learn to analyse sounds and words within the language (a process known as meta-linguistics). Mispronunciation can later lead to a lack of phonemic awareness and, ultimately, to reading, writing and spelling difficulties.
Through the use of Australian animal heroes and heroines, the Finger Puppet Storybooks help expand a child's vocbulary in a fun context while helping them learn to read. They also aim to encourage discussion about Australian animals between a parent and a child.
Before phonics - phonemic awareness
Before a child can begin to use phonics to learn to read, he or she must develop phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness simply means being able to hear and process letter sounds and combinations of letter sounds (auditory analysis) and is based around listening tasks and activities. Developing key listening skills is a crucial stage in learning to read. Phonemic awareness games and activities help a child begin to discrimate between sounds (auditory discrimination), remember sounds and words (auditory memory) and correctly order and link sounds together (auditory sequencing). All of these listening skills are essential for successful reading and writing. Phonemic awareness later leads to developing an understanding of the everyday language and thought processes the child has become familiar with (metacognition).
Phonemic awareness can be enhanced by:
- using rhyme
- encouraging word awareness
- using both long and short words (to aid in identification of syllables)
- alliteration (repetitive beginning, ending or medial sounds)
- blending of sounds (dipthongs and consonant strings)
- segmenting (understanding parts of words)
- and manipulating sounds within words.
What is phonics? An explanation of phonemes and graphemes