The most important thing happening in American education today is what is being done at school and in the home for the elementary school child. Upon this foundation the whole future of our education rests. And we must devote some of our time to specific ways in which parents can provide the best for their child's education.
The approach to word study for the young child should be by four simple steps:
See the word. Say the word. Build the word. Feel the word.
See the Word
Let him start by seeing the words: unable, climb
Across the room there will be a spot for mental pictures, above a picture on the wall, along the top of a door frame, against the back of a chair. Here the child will look away from unable on the page and see unable, for the un is the troublesome spot and therefore is the part to be emphasized.
As Un able is seen on the wall or door frame, it is said un able. The thinking is already in process, and the mental picture produces a positive feeling (I am able to spell un able), and the word is built. Climb becomes climb against the back of the chair, and consequently will never be dime on a composition to horrify an eighth grade teacher.
Saying the Word
This follows close upon the heels of seeing the word. Here again, the few profitable minutes devoted to this practice at home will be complementing and giving lasting meaning to the many tiring hours of drill already put in by the teacher at school.
As a matter of fact, except for the saying of the word for purposes of correct spelling, the recognition of the vowels - a, e, i, o, u - and the use of the simplest rules for dividing words into syllables, the parent will tread lightly in this direction. The parent will rely on the teacher to direct the child through the myriad side roads of confusion and exceptions to the rule.
Building the Word
This uses all the patterns of sight and sound carried over from seeing and saying, and the child who has learned the fundamentals of these will build with a satisfactory degree of success.
Feeling the Word
Feeling is generally explained within the boundaries of comparison and contrast. Feelings are "like something" or "they are more or less than." Then to feel words we see what they are like - what they describe "more or less." The physical feeling of a word grows out of seeing, saying, and building it. But the awe of word power, word scope, and word possibility grow out of what might have once seemed "too simple to waste time on."
Practices in Understanding Words
Start with words and the excitement of learning words.
Practice seeing words until the skill of enlarging the troublesome spots has become habit.
Knowledge of word parts and basic words should be reviewed at home along with practice in building words.
An introduction to the dictionary, and the necessity for constant dictionary use, can best be emphasized by ownership and use at home.
Study familiar words for new meanings and new interests.
Always learn examples to go with rules.
Start the practice of studying words in their relationship to other words to determine their meaning.
Have faith in the power of words, and the enthusiasm for words, which grows out of feeling words.
Keep a list of important working words (working words are those which can be read, whose meaning is known, and can be written correctly); also, start early to develop the fundamental vocabulary for arithmetic, language, social studies, science, etc.
Put each new word to work, so that it quickly becomes a part of the thinking, speaking, and writing vocabulary.
Know that words are symbols, signs, labels, tools of thinking and expression, and as such are only as good as the wisdom with which they are used.
With a little ingenuity, a parent may easily help a child in his quest to read fluently.
Children's books comprise a wide array of subjects, and vastly range in depth. Books can be devoted to certain age ranges, such as between two and four or eight and twelve. Some literature that is designed to be read by older children may also find an audience with adults, like the Harry Potter novels. Each type of children's book has a purpose, besides generating an income for the author, of course.
Nearly all children's literature is written about children, or at least people who have not yet reached adulthood. The only exceptions to this are books in which animals are the primary protagonists, although even in those stories humans may play a part. Often the child goes on an adventure, or learns an important life lesson, which is especially prevalent in books for younger children.
On the youngest scale, books from authors like Dr. Seuss come to mind. These stories employ the use of illustrations on a grand scale, as well as the frequent use of rhyme to keep the child's attention and focus. The child is usually too young to read the book themselves, and a grown-up or older sibling will read the book to them. There is usually a moral to the story, as with the Dr. Seuss classic Green Eggs and Ham, in which the lesson is to try new things. A child who has hundreds of different books read to them will probably hear valuable life lessons multiple times, although they may be too young to fully comprehend them at the moment, the values are subtly inserted in to their subconscious.
For slightly older children, there will still be illustrations, but fewer than with their previously mentioned counterparts, as now the focus begins to shift somewhat more towards the textual content. A moral is still a central part of the story, and fables fit this category. The level of vocabulary is at a very low level so that a child is able to read the book without any difficulty. It is important for children s books to be incredibly easy reads, as if the reader finds the story uninteresting, disengaging, or incomprehensible, they could be thrown off reading for life, or at least a long time.
At the next level are books designed for children in elementary school. Stories of this nature are intended to build the reader's vocabulary and reading comprehension skills, and may not contain any illustrations at all. Adults rarely read these books to their children, as this is the point where children begin to read completely on their own, only pausing to perhaps ask someone older what a specific word means.
Books written for students in the fifth to eighth grade start to take on a more serious tone. Sometimes even deal with serious issues like drug and alcohol abuse, as this is the time when kids begin learning about subjects of that type. Teenagers and even adults may take some pleasure in reading novels at this level, although most sophisticated readers avoid any material targeted at kids.
Studies have shown that there are numerous benefits to childhood reading. Children who are read to from an early age on have been shown to have a deeper interest in books and school later in life. Being that the world has become so competitive, it is important for everyone to get as good a head start as possible.
Both Jimmy Cox & Daniel Millions are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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