Children : Discover Reading

The beginning of elementary school for toddlers usually means to learn how to read. In order to be successful in this difficult but necessary task, children must have and use many aptitudes. For instance, children learn that words are made of phonemes, the smallest linguistically distinctive unit of sound, must have an excellent understanding of literature and be well-versed with various materials such as books. Recent studies have shown that both parents and educators can encourage children develop those skills from early childhood.

A researcher from Canada decided to determine the impact of exposure of toddlers to writing with reading or other form of letters and words teaching on the reading skills in third grade. She consequently followed 168 children from families of middle and upper classes in the Ottawa area, Ontario, for five years. The researcher came to the conclusion that exposure at an early age to various printed material contributed to the development of better reading skills in the third grade. The association between parental education and reading performance is a lot less clear. Nevertheless, there is probably a key element in kids success in learning reading which is an awareness of phonology, which can be stimulated by punctuating on reading rhymes and poetry.

London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down,
Falling down.London Bridge is falling down,
My fair lady

"The study also shows how important it is to expose young children to language, especially rhymes, songs and poems. Educational plans where parents and children listen to simple songs and rhymes should therefore be favored. One of the biggest challenge in helping families, especially poor families, is the integration of reading in an every day basis among preschool children. For many parents, buying books is not an option. On the other hand, many parents feel uneasy to go to the library. More research needs to be done on this subject, in order to develop more programs to include families of all socioeconomic levels in reading and writing, an important element of early childhood.

Forming educators is paying off

Because many children spend most of their day in day cares, researchers have also begun to examine the impact of interactions between the educators and the children on language development. This is why, with no surprise, researchers found that when teachers responded better to children efforts of communicating, encouraged conversation among peers and helped the children to express their ideas and expand their vocabulary by suggesting them new words and concepts, those children developed better communication and language skills. A second Canadian study showed that children benefit when their teachers have been trained to provide language interactions of better quality. When children interact with teachers that were trained to use more combination of words, they tend to speak more often with their peers.

This research correlates with what many have observed. It illustrates the difference such a training can make. Moreover, the training has not created new and costly requirements for educators nor it resulted in additional work for them. The training only necessitated to increase their level of awareness. By making minor changes in their interactions with kids, educators can make so great impact on children's language. We only need to improve the quality of interaction between the kids and the educators.