Necessary Basics in Reading

In this post I would like to show the importance of basics when it comes to reading. Like every other academic subject that is taught in schools, there are necessary basics when it comes to reading as well. It is not just enough to know a word when you see it. It is just as important to know the sounds that are put together to form a word as well as what the word really means. (1)

            At the young age of six, I was taught many different syllables in both the French and the English languages. I remember being in Senior Kindergarten and clapping our hands together at circle time as an activity to determine the number of syllables that were present in a word. To this day, that trick is still useful to decode the less obvious words.

Those syllables were taught to us and they built us a concrete base before we began to learn how to read. From my personal experiences of listening to children read at Club de Devoirs at Monseigneur Augustin Caron, I have noticed that learning syllables is no longer a priority before teaching a child how to read. Most students are playing guessing games while reading instead of taking the time to properly decode words. 

Now in most cases, students are just being given a small book to bring home to read for homework in hopes that their parents will teach them the ins and the outs of reading. I find that because children aren’t being forced to learn syllables before they start reading, that they are having a harder time pronouncing words and comprehending what they are reading as they get older. I believe that syllables should be prioritized before children begin to read. Once they have syllables as their base, they are able to read almost every word.

            The lack of basics being taught when it comes to reading is only giving students a harder time as they get older. In my opinion, without a base of syllables, students will find it more challenging when they go to read longer and more complicated words in the future. By giving students a strong base before they learn how to read, it’s only making them more confortable and at ease when they need to read in front of a crowd or a group of people.

            I believe that learning the ins and the outs of reading at a young age is very important in order for students to improve as they eventually explore more complicated forms of writing in the future. Being able to recognize syllables will allow students to become more efficient and more fluent readers. (2) Learning to decode words not only makes the pronunciation easier, but it also helps a child with his or her spelling habits, which leads me into the topic of my next post. (2)

(1) https://www.sedl.org/reading/framework/elements.html

(2) http://www.elementarymatters.com/2012/05/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know.html