| Many parents choose reading curriculum based on | | | | Which approach should you take with your child? I |
| friends or other parent's recommendations. Or | | | | have found that 75% of the students I have |
| some choose curriculum based on methods they | | | | worked with will become good readers with either |
| remember using as a child. The best approach to | | | | one of the above approaches. So the majority of |
| choosing a reading curriculum for your child | | | | you reading this article can choose quality reading |
| depends on your child's strengths and weaknesses | | | | curriculum by major publishers and your child will |
| not on what you may remember using as a child | | | | learn to read successfully. |
| or what well meaning friends suggest. | | | | One in four parents will need to dig a little deeper |
| There are three approaches that curriculum | | | | to choose the right curriculum to teach their |
| publishers use when producing reading curriculum. | | | | children to read. For these parents, I suggest that |
| One is a strong systematic approach to teaching | | | | you begin with a reading curriculum that |
| phonics and a slow introduction to comprehension | | | | introduces individual sounds and builds these |
| skills. Students usually begin with individual sounds | | | | sounds into words. If your child is struggling with |
| being taught in isolation and then gradually link | | | | remembering the sounds or blending after six |
| sounds together to produce words. Phonetic | | | | months of instruction then you need to introduce |
| books are introduced and children are encouraged | | | | more whole words and sentences to their reading |
| to sound-out any unknown words. This is the | | | | curriculum. You should supplement your reading |
| approach many of us remember using as a child. | | | | curriculum with some non-phonetic readers where |
| The second approach curriculum publisher's use is | | | | the child spends less time sounding-out words and |
| introducing words and comprehension skills at a | | | | spends more time memorizing the words. |
| young age with less emphasis on individual sounds. | | | | I am an advocate of teaching individual phonics |
| Individual sounds are taught but students are to | | | | skills but understand that when you have spent |
| immediately read the new sounds in a word. | | | | six months trying to teach individual sounds and |
| Teachers help prompt the students with any | | | | your child is struggling with reading, it is time to |
| unfamiliar sounds. Students read longer strings of | | | | change your approach. Children need some words |
| text with help from the teacher than the | | | | memorized to help them build their reading skills. |
| traditional method mentioned in the above | | | | Children learn to read at different ages. Some will |
| paragraph. Comprehension questions are asked | | | | naturally open a book at a young age and will |
| immediately upon reading of the text. | | | | learn to read with little instruction, while others |
| The third approach curriculum publisher's use | | | | need much more instruction to develop becoming |
| involves a blend of the two methods stated | | | | a good reader. Choose curriculum based on your |
| above. Students begin to read using isolated skills | | | | child's ability to grasp sounds and blend them into |
| and then build to phonetic books with the inclusion | | | | words. If your child is six years or older and |
| of some non-phonetic books. Comprehension | | | | greatly struggling to remember individual sounds |
| questions and activities are introduced early as | | | | and letters then it might be time to talk to a |
| students are introduced to short passages or | | | | professional. |
| books. | | | | |