Reading Development: Putting Standards in Perspective
When teaching
Reading it is important to recognize that students learn in different ways and
in synchronization with their own personal growth and development. Reading
development, as with all human development, is at an individual’s own pace. The
stages of reading development can be used as general reference guidelines. In
no instance should guidelines become reasons to judge a student’s ability to
learn nor should they be a reason to hold a student to curriculum that is no
longer challenging.
As part of the
normal growth process, children pass through stages of reading development.
Advancement through these stages may differ from child to child. For example, a
family may have one child who begins reading at age four while another does not
begin to read until age six. Parents may be surprised to notice that both
children are reading quite well at age eight. In other words, a slow beginning
simply may indicate the child is not yet ready to read and nothing more.
The quality of
reading is not measured by how soon a child begins to read but how well he or
she reads when ready.
Reading development
is enhanced when parents, family members, and friends read to children. It also
helps if children observe their parents and other important adults reading and
discussing the written word. Having books of all types around the house tells
children that reading is important.
It is always a good
idea to make sure that each student has a vision and physical examination
before beginning instruction. Most doctors have a list of resources on hand to
assist parents and caregivers in connecting with community specialists and
school agencies if glasses or other support is required.
Birth
to Kindergarten
Children learn to understand the spoken
word, enjoy having books read to them, recognize letters, and perhaps write
their name. They may also pretend to
read books aloud and talk about the pictures.
Kindergarten and
Grade One
Children learn the
names of the letters and the concept of sound/symbol and symbol/sound
relationships. They learn linguistic patterning, the blending of
Grades Two and
Three
Children enhance
and expand decoding skills, learn advanced skills for obtaining meaning from
texts, and increase reading fluency.
Grades Four through
Eight
Children learn
information that goes beyond their life experiences, they increase their basic
vocabulary, and they apply that vocabulary to new reading and writing
experiences.
Grades Nine through
Twelve
Students develop
complex language structures, interpret multiple points of view, learn advanced
vocabulary, and construct their own meanings through analysis and synthesis.
Excerpt
from: How to Use Rhoades to Reading 2nd Edition (2011)
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