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Is My Child Getting Quality Reading Instruction at School?
Sadly, in most cases, no.
Although we have seen some bright lights in the progress of reading instruction and education, we are far from working out the kinks. The American education system is highly political and money-motivated. Because of that, agendas are being pushed that are not best for children…. or teachers. What does that mean for you, as a parent? It is up to you to advocate for your child and provide what is missing in their reading instruction. This can look like added instruction at home, through private tutoring or active parental involvement. I wish I could say that this is the exception to the rule, but it is not. It is critical that we make sure our children can read. In all of the complexity that reading entails. Below I’ve listed the key attributes to what “good readers” have.
Scarborough’s Reading Rope
The Reading Rope is synonymous with quality reading instruction requirements. There has been a huge awakening in the public domain about the Science of Reading. The true definition of the Science of Reading is based in scientifically based research on how the brain learns to read and what aspects are necessary for quality reading instruction. Along the way, in true American media fashion, it turned into a phonics movement. Although this is great, and we do need explicit and direct phonics instruction, it is only one component in the necessary skills of reading.
Strands of the Reading Rope
Background Knowledge
Background knowledge is the knowledge that we bring to a text. (A text can be a movie, a book, a podcast,…anything that is conveying information to you!) This is a powerful strand in the rope that we as parents can help strengthen. Exposing our children to different experiences and settings can provide great opportunities to increase their background knowledge. If a child has never been to the beach, and they are reading a story about a child at the beach, they have no prior knowledge to pull from. They will not be able to connect with the story. I’ve seen this countless times in my work with children. Just last week, I asked them what they might see at a circus. All of them had no idea as they’d never been to a circus before. We’ll go into more depth on background knowledge at a later time.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary development starts at birth. Babies absorb the words they hear around them long before they can speak them. The more we engage with our babies, the larger their vocabulary will be. As they grow, sitting down with them to read books builds their vocabulary (among SO many other things) and starts their journey in interacting with words. There are so many facets to vocabulary growth. It is not just adding complex words to their repertoire, it is knowledge of multiple meanings, figurative language, and so much more. Having playful interactions with words provides our children with excitement in learning and growth in reading AND writing.
Language Structure
Language structure involves oral language and written language. How do we converse effectively with others, how we express ourselves in print, and how we understand what we read. This strand is incredibly important and often overlooked. We do not spend enough time on understanding parts of speech and sentence construction. Because of this, our children are not learning how to express themselves in the ways they should.
Verbal Reasoning
Verbal reasoning involves the undercurrent of language. Sarcasm, figurative language, and tone all live in this strand. This strand is particularly challenging for our neurodivergent children. We, as adults, do not realize how much of our language is in this realm. Children need consistent, regular interaction with this strand to help them access the complexities of language.
Literacy Knowledge
The last strand in “Language Comprehension” involves our knowledge of print, genres, text structure, and so on. Although this is not usually thought of, when we interact with a text (remember it is not always an actual book!) our brains immediately determine what genre it is. This allows our brain to focus on the correct elements in the text and glean as much information as it can. For example, if I’m listening to a fiction story, my brain is looking for characters, setting, problems, solutions. My brain is automatically in empathetic mode, making connections on a personal level and activating those emotion centers in our brain. However, if I’m watching a documentary on lions, my brain immediately retrieves what I already know about lions and is working on synthesizing or adding to that information.
Phonological Awareness
In the first strand of the “Word Recognition” portion of the rope, we deal with the understanding that words are made up of individual sounds. We begin to look at words in chunks, called syllables. This helps us identify the correct word, but also how to sound out words.
Decoding
In this strand, we take that knowledge of sounds in words and begin to assign letters to those sounds and use that knowledge to read and spell words. This aspect of reading is often where we start to notice if there is a problem in our child’s ability to learn to read. In kindergarten and first grade, teachers are focused on this aspect of reading. It is here where flags can be raised.
Sight Recognition
This strand is important for reading fluency. After our brain has spent the time sounding out a word, it will catalogue it in long-term memory. Because of this, when we read, we can pull that word from our memory and read it instantly. However, if a child is still having to sound out every word, it makes reading slow and laborious. Children who struggle with this need more frequent interactions with these words. This strand is NOT to say that we skip the phonological portion of reading and just get children to memorize words by sight. It is important to note that they go hand-in-hand.
I hope that this detailed explanation of the components of reading provide you with the tools you need to not only help your child read, but also advocate for them in school. We must hold our schools accountable for providing quality reading and writing instruction to our children. Stay tuned as we explore each strand in depth, with authentic activities to incorporate at home.