By Katie Simmons, Inclusion specialist and primary literacy expert
We started with a nice video about how being bilingual (or multilingual) is a superpower, and how there are many things that you can do to support your child's reading development, in your home language.
We then looked at components that children need in order to read well. This can be demonstrated as a multiplication problem:
Word Recognition x Language Comprehension = Reading Comprehension.
Word recognition
Word Recognition is the ability to read words. This begins with knowing the sounds that are represented by letters (phonics), being able to sound out words (phonemic awareness), and practicing a lot to be able to read them automatically (fluency).
Language comprehension
Language Comprehension is, very simply, being able to understand the words that are being read and to be able to make sense of them. Children need language comprehension to read because reading isn’t just about recognizing words—it’s about understanding them. A strong vocabulary, knowledge of sentence structure, and the ability to make sense of a story all come from listening and speaking skills. If a child can sound out a word but doesn’t know what it means, reading won’t be meaningful. The more children understand spoken language, the easier it is for them to understand what they read.So, you need both Word Recognition AND Language Comprehension to have true reading comprehension.
How can parents support their child?
Teachers at ISU are busy teaching all of these things, but the takeaway from the session was what parents can do at home.
Here are a few of the tips shared:
- Read to your child in your home language.
- Create a reading routine for your child to read each day.
- Ask open-ended questions about stories. Even if children are reading in English, you can ask them questions and have discussions about the stories in your home language.
- Encourage storytelling and imaginative play (limit screen time)
- Be a reading role model—let them see you reading!
- Visit the library together.
- Encourage discussions about what they watch or read online.
- Make time for Fast Phonics and/or Reading Eggspress (grades 1-3)
Learning to read is a journey
It is important to also remember that learning to read is a journey. There are many important stages that children go through as they learn to read, especially when they are learning in their second or third language! These things take time, practice, and patience. Luckily, we have extremely skilled and talented teachers at ISU who are helping your child along that journey every day at ISU.
School parents can find the presentation uploaded to the PYP documents page in the For Parents section on the website.