A lot of parents today are stressing out that their children are not as skilled as others and still could not start to write their names or don’t know the alphabet. So, they started to spend more time on teaching them or getting extra classes where children are drilling alphabet or phonics. But do you know that the only thing that it does is building the greater wall between your child and the passion for reading.
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What to do to make sure that my children will love reading and learn fast?
If we look at the spoken language as a whole, we will distinguish that it is made out of sentences. Those are made up of words. We can then break the words to phonemes which are the smallest units of sounds in language.
Children are using the spoken language before they start learning how to read. We can assume that it is their prior knowledge that is connecting what they already know with something they are abutting to learn.
This connection is allowing the children to use their current knowledge to develop the new skill and as soon as the child will create a conceptual understanding of how it works, they will be able to learn by themselves by repeating the learning process that they understand.
The natural learning process for a child starts with using their body language. They use facial expressions, eye movement, pointing at things, grabbing things, and gestures.
Children also start to explore with sounds. They cry, scream, laugh, and start to realise that by doing so they send signals to the people around them. Spoken language becomes very relevant to them because it allows them to communicate easily what they want.
When it comes to reading, not all children see that natural connection how it can help them to become better communicators and get what they are after. They simply don’t see the benefits so they have no motivation and drive to start learning.
All people, no matter what their age, can learn fast if they feel that whatever they are learning is relevant to their desires. If that is the case, we can assume that if we make the reading relevant to the child, and prove that it is a great way to explore the world, then the reading will become a simple and self-driven learning process.
What if my child wants to read but still has difficulties to focus or learn?
Once the learners already have the motivation to learn, it is only a matter of finding the right strategy to learn. There is no best way and secret formula that works for all.
That is why our responsibility as parents and teachers is to find what works and what is not. But we don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
Early years’ researchers were studying learning patterns and providing us with lots of data. If we break down reading skills to smaller pieces just like we did with the spoken language, we will find that there is a code we need to break. The first step is to realise what to do.
If your child is still struggling with learning, that means he/she doesn’t understand the process we are teaching. We need to remember that before we will start teaching, phonemic awareness is the first part of breaking the code. We first need to make it relevant to the child. That child needs to have a conceptual understanding of “written language”.
How to apply that in real life even if I am not a trained educator and can’t afford the best schools?
You can find all the help that you need on the Internet for FREE. At K.I.D.S. TIME,, there are simple games that are can help to build those brains connections in young readers’ minds and prepare them for an amazing learning journey.
Here is one example of the videos, showing how you can link actions and meaning with the written symbol that will be relevant to a child:
Once the child creates the connection between written signs and the real physical world, or the action that is associated with it, we can start introducing a concrete sign system.
This is the moment where we need to establish the connection between the new concept of written language with their prior knowledge that is spoken language or body language.
This is where the phonological awareness is introduced to the students. But the best specialist knows that it is not only about the process but also about the connection with the individual child. In today’s digital world you can quickly find the activities to practice with your reader like:
- words in sentences
- syllables
- rhyme
- isolation
- blending
- segmentation
- addition/deletion/substitution
The whole process starts with a word. Words are the key to the code of written language because they bring meaning that is relevant to everyone.
Single letters, syllables, sounds, phonemes all those cannot be associated with the physical world that the child knows. When looking at the whole world, we can make it relevant to a 3-year-old who can visualise it as an object or an action.
So the only thing that left is to find words that will be significant to your child. In one of the videos on K.I.D.S. TIME, they are presenting how that concept works in action. They used a well-known story of The Little Red Riding Hood and chose a few words that are important for their adventure.
It is important to remember that K.I.D.S TIME are only creating an awareness that words have meaning. It doesn’t matter if the child can or cannot remember the letters within that word at this point. Having that in mind, you don’t have to tackle all the words you have in the book and make the kids memorise them. More is not always better.
As the community of Mind Explorers, K.I.D.S TIME’s mission is to inspire a passion for learning. All the best educators in the world know that the greatest way to do that is through PLAY. Knowing that, K.I.D.S TIME answers this one question to achieve their goal:
How do K.I.D.S TIME turns reading into play?
The answer to this question is very obvious but sometimes the most obvious things are the hardest to see. To support their community of learners, K.I.D.S TIME created a webinar where they will reveal the last piece of this puzzle that will turn your children into passionate readers in no time.
Join FREE webinar and discover the secret key to unlock the passion for reading by contacting K.I.D.S TIME here:
Mind Explorers community: Facebook
Mail: mike.education.innovators@gmail.com
WhatsApp: +6012-5538003 / +6011 3610 3025
Get more edutainment videos and activities for your kids at K.I.D.S TIME’s playlist today!