When children leave the Watering Whole we are not expecting them to read yet as this is taught in Grade R and Grade 1, but without a proper foundation laid first, reading will prove an extremely difficult task.
At Watering Whole we work on creating and developing a rich foundation on which reading will flourish by focusing on the following:
1 – Language – A child needs to have been exposed to and have developed a rich understanding of language before they can learn to read successfully and this is done through exposure to stories, poems, songs, rhymes and books daily! Reading to your child is one of the greatest gifts you can give them during these foundational years!
2 – Awareness of rhyme – All those nursery rhymes, poems, songs and books like Dr Seuss will help your child develop an ear for sound. Research shows that rhymes help children to grasp the rhythm of language and break down phrases into words and words into sounds; an important skill needed to be able to read and write. The repetitive structures used in nursery rhymes are also your child’s first introduction to early maths skills as it introduces patterns and many rhymes will often also include numbers and counting too.
3 – Syllable awareness – understanding how different sounds make a word is an important part of developing phonological awareness. Research shows that children who cannot distinguish the different sounds in words have difficulty recognising and learning the print to sound relationship needed for both reading and spelling success. To develop syllable awareness we often break up big worlds by clapping each syllable.
4 – Visual discrimination skills – the ability to identify differences and similarities between objects is especially important when learning reading, writing, and maths. We can develop these skills by exploring shapes and numbers in different contexts, playing different matching, sorting and spot the difference games, reading books together and activities like puzzles are also wonderful to develop this skill too.
4 – Exploring the alphabet and how letter sounds make up words – As we explore our African Alphabet together we are starting to help our children identify the first sounds in words. Whilst we are not expecting children at this age to learn and identify every letter of the alphabet at preschool, we are familiarising them with all the different sounds of the alphabet and the understanding that it is these different sounds that make up the words we read. Generally sound identification always starts with identifying the first sound in a word, then later the last sound and finally the middle sound. Playing games like eye spy is also a wonderful way to develop this.
5 – Sound Segmenting and Sound Blending – Sound segmenting is when we pull words apart, saying a word slowly so we can hear each sound that makes up a word and sound blending is when we push those sounds back together again to hear how they blend into words. This is the beginning of reading. For older children who are starting to identify different letters and are interested in written words they see on the page as you are reading them a story…this is a wonderful time to start introducing sound segmenting and sound blending to them.
READING FOUNDATIONS ….. What can you do?
•Read to your child daily
•Sing and read poems, songs and nursery rhymes
•Clap out the syllables in big words when you are learning something new!
•Play games and do puzzles that develop visual discrimination skills
•Have fun exploring the African Alphabet in our curriculum and games like eye spy
•Remember to put up your child’s name in their room so they can start recognising their own name in print.
•For older children who show interest, you can begin segmenting and blending simple words together.
HOW CAN WE HELP?:
Story Time with Teacher Linda – Over the years we have taken pride in researching and adding a wide array of books to our Watering Whole library. Click on this link to access our story time space. Your child can click on the cover of any of the books in our virtual library and the story video will play. (Our story time library will be added to weekly. This week we have added a Winter Themed book “The Bear Snores On”)
Rhyming Time with Teacher Inger – Join Teacher Inger in our new “Rhyming Time” virtual space here and explore the rich rhythm and rhyme of language through different stories, songs and games. Your child can click on the various video options and a different rhyme, poem or song will play.