Literacy

How do children learn to read and spell?

Reading and spelling use lots of skills that do not develop naturally like speech does. The following skills need to be taught and practiced over time:

• What different words sound like and mean (vocabulary)
• The alphabet and what sounds each letter makes
• Knowing that language is broken up into different sounds (e.g. words, syllables)
• Knowing that words can be broken up into smaller sounds (phonemes)
• Knowing that sounds can be written with letters or groups of letters (graphemes)
• Seeing the different sounds in written words and then putting them together to say a word (decoding)
• Knowing what letters or groups of letters match different sounds and putting them together to write a word (encoding)
• Recognising full written words (whole word reading)
• How parts of words can have meaning (morphology), like unhappy
• How words fit together to make sentences that follow rules (syntax)
• Putting it all together and linking it to the real world (reading comprehension)

Children can have strengths or difficulties in any of these skills. It is important to know what they are so that the right support can be given.

Why do some children struggle to learn to read and spell?

There are many factors that influence the development of literacy skills including biological, cognitive, emotional, behavioural and environmental factors.

Biology

Vision & eye control
Hearing
Family literacy difficulties
Complex interaction between genes and environment

Environment

Home learning environment
Number of books at home
Quality of home literacy interactions
(e.g. the amount and type of conversations/talk around storybooks).

Cognition

Memory difficulties
Processing difficulties
Poor attention and concentration
Phonological awareness*
Phoneme awareness*
Speech and Language difficulties

Emotions

Motivation and interest
Belief in self and own ability
Negative experiences in the past

*Phonological awareness is the ability to work with the sounds in a spoken language
*Phoneme awareness is the ability to focus on and manipulate individual sounds in spoken words

Dyslexia

‘Dyslexia is evident when accurate and fluent reading and /or spelling develops very incompletely or with great difficulty’. This focuses on literacy learning at the ‘word level’ and implies that the problem is severe and persistent despite appropriate learning opportunities. It provides the basis for a staged process of assessment through teaching’. The most important factor is early identification of individual difficulties and that support to address those difficulties is tailored to meet an individual’s needs.

What can I do to help with literacy?

Parent involvement and interest in a child’s reading really helps their reading improve. It can also impact on their wider educational attainment, school enjoyment, and general well-being. The principles of supporting your child are the same whatever the age of the child. All schools teach children to read using a method called phonics, which teaches children to read by breaking words down into sounds. Your child’s school will be able to provide more information on this and research shows that when a school and parent work together to help the child to read, results are better.

Key tips: the most important factor is that your child enjoys reading and feels successful

• Encourage your child to read and read aloud regularly – share and read books to develop a love of stories. A few minutes a day has a big impact on children of all ages. Try to read to your child every day. A little and often approach works best.
• Choose reading materials that link with your child’s interests – encourage a wide reading choice e.g. comics, magazines, recipes, audiobooks and eBooks that you and your child can enjoy. Use magnetic letters on the fridge to play with words.
• Create a comfortable environment and read together – make it a relaxing and enjoyable experience. You know your child best, pick up on their cues and choose a time and place where they are relaxed and want to share a book with you. If English is an additional language, encourage reading in a child’s first language, as well as in English.
• Talk with your child about books and bring reading to life – this is a great way to develop understanding and make reading even more enjoyable. Discuss the front cover, talk about what the book could be about and share ideas, talk about individual words and how they are spelt. When reading the book, discuss details of the story or the information. You could talk about how the book makes you feel. While children can practice their phonics skills with you, try not to lose the meaning and interest of the story. If your child gets very stuck on a word read it for them and carry on with the story

Five fabulous facts about literacy

1. In English, there are 44 different phonemes (sounds), all of which your child will be taught at school.
2. Having books at home is associated with reading enjoyment and reading confidence.
3. Reading can support a solid parent-child bond.
4. Children who are read to during their first five years of life are exposed to 1.4 million additional words. It’s never too early to start reading to your child.
5. It only takes six minutes of daily reading for a child to show improvements in reading.