By Ryan Spencer, Dymocks Literacy Expert &
State Director of the Australian Literacy Educator’s Association
Learning to read is a complicated process and parents often wonder if their child’s reading abilities are advancing at the rate they “should”. It’s tempting to compare children of the same age in terms of their reading development, however, this is in no way a reliable indicator of how they should be reading at a certain age.
Rather than judging progression by age, it’s important to think about learning to read as occurring in three stages.
Stage 1: Emerging readers
How to spot them
Children in the emergent stage of reading are usually just starting to gain an understanding of how a text works. They will display good book handling behaviours, they will know where the book begins and ends, and they understand that text and pictures convey a message. Generally, readers in this stage can recognise a small number of high-frequency words (5-20 words) that occur regularly throughout a text.
How to help
When your child is displaying these reading behaviours, you can assist their development by pointing out environmental print in their everyday surroundings. This includes words on signs, around the home and at the supermarket. It’s also great to talk about the meaning of the story when reading favourite books at bedtime and making link between these stories and your child’s own experiences.
Stage 2: Beginning readers
How to spot them
In this stage, children are becoming much more familiar with different texts and usually start to read much more widely and independently. You may notice your child can identify many more high-frequency words (20-50 words) and they also begin to self-correct words as they are reading. While children may sometimes read slowly and word by word at this stage, they are still gaining valuable information from the text.
How to help
Parents who engage with their child at this stage of reading are assisting them best when they allow their discussions about the book to go a little deeper. Perhaps discuss what could happen next after the book is finished or explore different texts that the author has written.
Stage 3: Fluent readers
How to spot them
Fluent readers are those who can identify most high-frequency words automatically. They tend to read from a wide range of different texts with little or no assistance. Readers at the fluent stage tend to use a range of different strategies to figure out unknown words, including skipping the word and allowing the wider context to convey the message, reading on for more information, and substituting the word with a word that would also make sense.
How to help
When you are reading with a fluent reader, it is useful to begin discussions about different types of texts, their purposes and the characteristics of how these texts are made up. For instance, when looking at graphic novels, you could talk about how the author uses images to represent different aspects of the story and the impact that text placement has on how this is displayed.
Tips for parents on making learning to read fun for children
Relax
The simplest way to encourage children to engage in reading is to relax around the process. The physical location can make a real difference to how the reading is perceived and enjoyed. Try lying down on the lounge room floor, mum and dad’s bed, or outside under a tree.
Let your children choose what they want to read
Book choice is a vital component of the reading process. As adults, we very rarely read anything that we either don’t love or enjoy. Why then do we insist that children must read cover to cover something that they don’t necessarily enjoy or like? Often these imposed choices on children come from a place of love – we are trying to support the children in accessing a text that is at their reading level. It is often hard to let go and let children choose their own books. This is vital, however, for developing strong, self-sufficient readers.
Don’t be the ‘instant word factory’
When you are reading with your child and they come to a word they don’t know, don’t just supply the word that they are unsure of. Rather, encourage your child to skip the word and read on for more information, use the pictures for a clue, even leave the word behind and continue reading. By refocusing the child’s attention back to the meaning of the text, the context of the text will help fill in the blanks.
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This is great Bec. One of kids was a great reader. She would read out loud to me and everything flowed. But I didn’t realise she was not actually comprehending anything. After 2 years of testing, we found out she has auditory processing issues and poor short term memory. This was found because of her reading
This is a very handy guide- thank you!
Love Ryan’s work! Great post.
Great post!
A really awesome, simple and concise article. Great stuff! Reading skills (for the parent as much as for the child) are just so important and we don’t take enough time to support parents to do it right. Found you on #IBOT and glad I did! Love from Emily
Thanks Bec!
We’re just entering stage 1 (I suspect). Thanks too for reminding me not to compare.
B X
Great post, this would have been really handy when my kids were younger. xx
There’s a lot of different levels in those stages too, I’ve noticed.
I love watching when kids really ‘get’ reading, and suddenly take off in an area. That’s the best thing to witness. 🙂
Mr 5 has progressed in leaps and bounds over the holidays. He’s loving it!
We received our first ever reader home today! Am I sad for being ridiculously excited? These are some great tips from Ryan. I need to be careful about being a word factory. #teamIBOT
Not at all! We started readers last term. It was such a blast from the past.
Great tips. All our girls developed reading skills differently. Its important to understand, every reader is different, and some will naturally be better than others.
I am having a tough time managing the reading of readers with my twins. It takes a big effort each night to make time (away from the prying eyes of the other twin) to read their own reader. They are on different levels but fairly close in ability (one is a bit lazier than the other).
Oh Bron, that would be so hard! I have enough difficulty getting Mr 5’s reader done when Mr 3.5 keeps interrupting, claiming I CAN READ TOOOOOOO!
What wonderful, practical information and suggestions! I also have a student that I ask to draw a picture of what was read. It is just another strategy that helps with comprehension for this particular child, who is very visual.
It’s quite amazing – Mr 5’s school teaches them so many strategies, and that’s another one. Every week they have to read a set 4 lines each night, then draw a picture to go with the lines, which they hand in as ‘homework’ each Thursday.
Perfectly timed post – we have a beginner reader who is busting to learn the ropes. This is a great help – thank you xx
Great guide – I have a little one who loves to “read” and cannot yet (2) and an older one (7) who is actually quite a good reader but has little interest. Sigh.
I really appreciated the tips on how parents can help. I often feel a bit overwhelmed and unsure what to do to keep them interested and looking forward to the next book. x
Oh, we are at this stage with my 6 year old and it is so exciting to watch! It’s amazing how quickly they start gaining momentum once they get over that first initial hurdle. Watching him develop a real love of reading has been really gratifying, and I’ve always made sure to have plenty of good books in the house.