8 Questions to Ask Before Teaching Your Child to Read

[author][author_info]This is an excerpt from an article by Donna Crawford, a former education consultant with SHARE. Donna taught for more than 30 years in the US and Taiwan. This article was originally published in SHARE’s Fitted Pieces, and is used with permission.[/author_info] [/author]

Over the last few years, I’ve worked with many families overseas who were in the midst of teaching their children to read, or would soon be facing that challenge. Some parents were apprehensive; others were excited. Often they had questions, but usually among the first that they raised was, “Where do I begin in this process?” or “How do I teach my child to read?” After talking with many parents I’ve discovered that often those who are the most apprehensive do the best job because they become learners along with their children.

The reading process starts long before the child picks up a book and sounds out a word. It actually begins with their parents. Children start learning to read when their parents make sense out of the printed page for them by reading to them. They learn more every time someone reads aloud to them. This should be taking place all along the way during their childhood as parents model the importance of reading. Reading to children from infancy on begins to develop in them an enthusiasm for reading. Sometimes a young child will walk around the house, point to objects and pronounce the words. However, this is not reading but “word calling.” Real reading includes understanding, reacting and learning from what we read.

Probably the first thing a parent needs to understand is how to use a piece of literature to teach a child to read. They should start by asking questions. “What do think this story is about?”, “Who is the main character?” or “What do you know about the author?” These questions will spark the child’s interest causing him to look at pictures in the story, look at the book jacket, learn about the author, etc. Then based on this a parent might ask the child to predict what might happen in the story or tell something about the main character. All these questions are designed to set the purpose for reading. They create enthusiasm and plant questions in the mind of the child that can be answered only through reading.

However, most parents quickly come back to the question that is really on their minds, namely, “How do I teach my child to read words, not just enjoy reading?” I usually answer this question with another question, “Is your child showing signs that he or she is ready to read?” Then I often ask the parents a series of questions:

• Can they distinguish between likenesses and differences in pictures, objects, shapes, colors, letters and words?

• Can they narrate a story by looking at the pictures?

• Can they distinguish rhyming words and words that begin or end with the same sound?

• Can they recognize a letter and associate it with a sound?

• Can they verbally give the sequence of a story or event and in essence tell you a story back?

• Can they focus on a single task for ten minutes?

• Can they orient things from top to bottom or left to right?

• Can they express ideas clearly in speaking?

Answering these questions will help a parent know whether or not their child is ready to read. If a child has mastered these skills, they probably are. If not, parents should not force the issue, but wait.

What questions are you asked related to teaching children to read?

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