Why kids can’t read

Every few years educationalists start arguing about whether or not children should learn reading by rote, by being taught their letters, by phonics, by whole word, or any of a dozen other methods. Each method has wonderful success stories and appalling failures. It seems that reading is most definitely a situation with no “one size fits all” solution.

A new Australian study has shown that children who are lagging behind at reading don’t speak “school English”, or Standard Australian English, at home. They may speak a language other than English, or Aboriginal English, or a creole, or “bogan” English – the kind where words like “youse” feature. I expect this is the same in America, the United Kingdom and many other places as well.

But it’s not school English; it isn’t how the teacher speaks and it certainly isn’t what international tests or NAPLAN (National Assessment Program, Literacy and Numeracy tests) reward. So, it is the school’s job to teach school English to ensure everyone gets equal access to the learning that happens at school.

The number of non-Standard Australian English speakers in schools has grown over the years, and Australia’s education system doesn’t cope well with “non-standard”. I expect most overseas programs don’t either.

Teachers who grew up speaking and reading school English fluently are less effective with the students who write “I seen that at the movies”, or “My sister go to shopping on a car”. All teachers can correct those errors but far fewer can explain why they’re wrong to the students. Students who hear the language being spoken all around them exactly like that all the time.

What these learners need is good literature, and teachers who have a strong understanding of how the English language works which they can convert to meaningful teaching.

You can read about the study at: http://www.essentialkids.com.au/younger-kids/kids-education/why-the-best-literacy-approaches-are-not-reaching-the-classroom-20131031-2wid6.html#utm_source=FD&utm_medium=lifeandstylepuff&utm_campaign=literacy


Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

How Reading Books Fosters Language Development around the World

This is a long, heavy, scholarly article about reading development worldwide.
Let me give you just a few interesting points from it.

The years from birth to age three are very important to later literacy. That’s when babies learn about language so reading to preschoolers is vital. Language teaches children how to categorize things – how to organize their world so they understand it.

Using gestures with children not yet able to talk helps them learn.

Kids will learn words much faster if they’re interested in the item or topic under discussion, and they learn faster when an adult responds to them.

Children learn grammar as they learn vocabulary. This is why reading books together helps so much. They learn sentences, they are with an adult and the story is usually interesting to them.

The frequency of reading is more accurate at showing children’s educational success than socio-economic status.

Giving kids an exciting book to read is a great start. Reading it with them is even better.

http://www.hindawi.com/journals/cdr/2012/602807/

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Proof of what we always knew about reading

There are times when it’s exciting to live in the smartest country in the world.

Researchers in Melbourne (my home town) have finally proven what librarians, school teachers and lovers of books have been saying ever since the first scroll was penned. Children who are read to when they are little do better at reading and numbers than kids who are are not read to, regardless of the wealth or poverty of their families, and regardless of the literacy level of their family.

The study followed children from a huge variety of circumstances from the age of four or five until they were ten or eleven. Children read to 0-2 times a week were average. Kids read to 3-5 times a week were six months ahead, and kids read to 6-7 times a week were almost a year ahead in reading and in numeracy.

You can read about the study here:
http://www.theage.com.au/national/proof-of-benefits-of-reading-to-children-20130302-2fd7s.html

Or you could just find a little kid and start reading to them!

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.