How Children Develop Decoding Skills at Home
Language Play: By involving children in game-like activities children begin
to recognize that some words sound the same at the beginning or at the end.
This recognition is done by singing songs, learning nursery rhymes, and
playing verbal word games with rhyming words.
Reading books: By reading books that play with language, children begin to
hear and experience the sounds of our language.
Inventing Rhymes: By encouraging children to make up their own rhymes, they
are becoming aware of sounds and laying a foundation for phonics instruction
in school.
The following continuum includes how parents and families can support
children as they evolve into successful reader and writers.
Phase 1: Awareness and Exploration
Children explore their environment and build the foundations for learning to
read and write.
Children can:
enjoy listening to and discussing storybooks
understand that print carries a message
engage in reading and writing attempts
identify labels and signs in their environment
participate in rhyming games
identify some letters and make some letter-sound matches
use known letters or approximations of letters to represent written language
(especially meaningful words like their name and phrases such as "I love
you")
What parents and family members can do:
talk with children,
engage them in conversation,
give names of things,
show interest in what a child says,
read and reread stories with predictable text to children,
encourage children to recount experiences and describe ideas and events that
are important to them,
visit the library regularly,
provide opportunities for children to draw and print, using markers,
crayons, and pencils
Phase 2: Experimental Reading and Writing
Children develop basic concepts of print and begin to engage in and
experiment with reading and writing.
They can:
enjoy being read to and themselves retell simple narrative stories or
informational texts
use descriptive language to explain and explore
recognize letters and letter-sound matches
show familiarity with rhyming and beginning sounds
understand left-to-right and top-to-bottom orientation and
familiar concepts of print
match spoken words with written ones
begin to write letters of the alphabet and some high-frequency words
What parents and family members can do:
daily read and reread narrative and informational stories to children
encourage children's attempts at reading and writing
allow children to participate in activities that involve writing and reading
(for example, cooking, making grocery lists)
play games that involve specific directions (such as "Simon Says")
have conversations with children during mealtimes and throughout the day
Phase 3: Early Reading and Writing
Children begin to read simple stories and can write about a topic that is
meaningful to them.
Children can:
read and retell familiar stories
use strategies (rereading, predicting, questioning, contextualizing) when
comprehension breaks down
use reading and writing for various purposes on their own initiative
orally read with reasonable fluency
use letter-sound associations, word parts, and context to identify new words
identify an increasing number of words by sight
sound out and represent all substantial sounds in spelling a word
write about topics that are personally meaningful
attempt to use some punctuation and capitalization
What parents and family members can do:
talk about favorite storybooks
read to children and encourage them to read to you
suggest that children write to friends and relatives
bring to a parent-teacher conference evidence of what your child can do in
writing and reading
encourage children to share what they have learned about their writing and
reading
Phase 4: Transitional Reading and Writing
Children begin to read more fluently and write various text forms using
simple and more complex sentences.
They can:
read with greater fluency
use strategies more efficiently (rereading, questioning, and so on) when
comprehension breaks down
use word identification strategies with greater facility to unlock unknown
words
identify an increasing number of words by sight
write about a range of topics to suit different audiences
use common letter patterns and critical features to spell words
punctuate simple sentences correctly and proofread their own work
spend time reading daily and use reading to research topics
What parents and family members can do:
continue to read to children and encourage them to read to you
engage children in activities that require reading and writing
become involved in school activities
show children your interest in their learning by displaying their written
work
visit the library regularly
support your child's specific hobby or interest with reading materials and
references
Phase 5: Independent and Productive Reading and Writing
Children continue to extend and refine their reading and writing to suit
varying purposes and audiences.
They can:
read fluently and enjoy reading
use a range of strategies when drawing meaning from the text
use word identification strategies appropriately and automatically when
encountering unknown words
recognize and discuss elements of different text structures
make critical connections between texts
write expressively in many different forms (stories, poems, reports)
use a rich variety of vocabulary and sentences appropriate to text forms
revise and edit their own writing during and after composing
spell words correctly in final writing drafts
What parents and family members can do:
continue to support children's learning and interest by visiting the library
and bookstores with them
find ways to highlight children's progress in reading and writing
stay in regular contact with your child's teachers about activities and
progress in reading and writing
encourage children to use and enjoy print for many purposes (such as
recipes, directions, games, and sports)
build a love of language in all its forms and engage children in
conversation
