Learning to read

Learning to read is the acquisition and practice of the skills necessary to understand the meaning behind printed words. For a fairly good reader, the skill of reading often feels simple, effortless, and automatic; however, the process of learning to read is complex and builds on cognitive, linguistic, and social skills developed from a very early age. Learning to read is the acquisition and practice of the skills necessary to understand the meaning behind printed words. For a fairly good reader, the skill of reading often feels simple, effortless, and automatic; however, the process of learning to read is complex and builds on cognitive, linguistic, and social skills developed from a very early age. Usually, in order to understand a text, it is necessary to understand the spoken language associated with that text. In this way, writing systems are distinguished from many other symbolic communication systems. Once established, writing systems on the whole change more slowly than their spoken counterparts, and often preserve features and expressions which are no longer current in the spoken language. The great benefit of writing systems is their ability to maintain a persistent record of information expressed in a language, which can be retrieved independently of the initial act of formulation. A child's ability to learn to read, known as reading readiness, begins in infancy, as the child begins attending to the speech signals in their environment and begins producing spoken language. Children make some use of all the material that they are presented with, including every perception, concept and word that they come in contact with; thus the environment in which a child develops affects the child's ability to learn to read. The amount of time that a child spends together with parents or other important caregivers while listening to them read is a good predictor of the level of reading that the child will attain later in life. As a child sits with a caregiver, looking at pictures and listening to stories, they will slowly learn that all the different lines on each page make different symbols and then that together these symbols refer to words. Taking time to read to children is the most important precursor to a child's development of reading. Preschool-aged children with limited exposure to books and reading in their home, including limited experience of being read to, are at risk of reading difficulties. For example, these children tend to have less exposure to literary phrases, such as 'Once upon a time', and have smaller vocabularies, both factors that affect the ability to read by limiting comprehension of text. The environment in which a child lives may also impact their ability to acquire reading skills. Children who are regularly exposed to chronic environmental noise pollution, such as highway traffic noise, have been known to show decreased ability to discriminate between phonemes as well as lower reading scores on standardized tests. Thus, the ideal process of what is called emergent or early literacy begins in the relationship between hearing spoken language, seeing written language and feeling loved. The positive feeling that arises from spending time with books in a loving context provides a strong foundation and intrinsic motivation for the long and cognitively challenging process of learning to read. However, reading to children and ensuring exposure to many books is not enough to prepare them for reading. Another critical skill is the ability to name letters or characters. Some scholars favor a developmentally appropriate approach in which formal instruction on reading begins when children are about six or seven years old, while others favor limited amounts of literacy instruction at the age of four and five, in addition to non-academic, intellectually stimulating activities. For example, advocates opposing the 2015 Common Core State Standards complain that 'To achieve usually calls for long hours of drill and worksheets — and reduces other vital areas of learning such as math, science, social studies, art, music and creative play.' Some parents teach their children to read as babies. Babies learn to read differently and more easily than children who learn to read in school from formal instruction. The most important aspect of early (baby) reading is interaction with loving parents and bonding. In a discussion on academic kindergartens, professor of child development David Elkind has argued that, since 'there is no solid research demonstrating that early academic training is superior to (or worse than) the more traditional, hands-on model of early education', educators should defer to developmental approaches that provide young children with ample time and opportunity to explore the natural world on their own terms. Elkind emphasized the principle that 'early education must start with the child, not with the subject matter to be taught.' The PISA 2007 OECD data from 54 countries demonstrates 'no association between school entry age ... and reading achievement at age 15'. A German study of 50 kindergartens compared children who, at age 5, had spent a year either 'academically focused', or 'play-arts focused' and found that in time the two groups became inseparable in reading skill. Suggate concludes that the effects of early reading are like 'watering a garden before a rainstorm; the earlier watering is rendered undetectable by the rainstorm, the watering wastes precious water, and the watering detracts the gardener from other important preparatory groundwork.'