If I ask you to spell the word 'hand' do you see a picture of a hand
or the letters that make up the word hand ie h+a+n+d in sequence from
left to right? Or both?
We plan to undertake an interesting study with children- alongside
their natural language development.
Very early on children will see a picture of something- like a cat-
and say the word 'cat' - as they know that this is the name of the
object/ thing! They are able to link the two- picture with sound. When
I say sound I mean that they give a sound verbally- it may not be the
correct word- they may say 'horsie' if looking at a horse etc. However
they will make a sound to represent the picture based on whatever
association they have in their mind.
We are interested to know the effect of showing babies and very young
children the symbol that represents sounds that they are able to
create. So if they can create the sound 'buh' with their voices and
we, in a fun, relaxed manner show them a card with that symbol on it
(ie the letter 'b') will their minds quickly learn to associate that
sound - a sound in many words- with that symbol?
It doesnt matter if there is no understanding of the concept- that
this is a sound in words- its the same as seeing a picture of a polar
bear- they are unlikely to really understand what one looks like
(size) smells like, how it moves, behaves etc. However they can learn
that there is a word we use in language that represents that animal.
Why could this be really really important? Because the best predictor
of reading ability is letter and sound recognition. When they know
letters and sounds- can understand that the words we speak are made up
of sounds- they are well on their way to learning to read and spell
well.
We are currently failing- even one child who is left behind is too
many- in Queensland for example around 1 in 5 children are not reading
at the expected level by 10. So we need to go back and start
preventing this. Let's start thinking outside of the box!
The focus for young children is on words- and speech- however we want
children to know that we can make lots of different sounds with our
mouths - buh pi fuh etc- and they are used within our words.
The next concept is that there are symbols used to represent those
sounds, on paper. They have names- ie letters- however the important
part here is that they represent the sound we use- and how words are
created and broken down!
When I ask you to spell a word it is likely that, if a new word, you
will 'sound it out'- and in your mind you know the symbols used. If I
ask you to spell 'shop' you should know that although it is spelt 's+h
+o+p- we actually spell it using 3 sound symbols- sh + o + p. You are
a reader- and know that the sound sh is represented with s+h together.
You might see the letters in sequence in your mind. Because you have
those skills. If a child doesnt know those symbols he will see perhaps
a picture of a shop- but isnt linking the sounds with symbols to be
able to spell. We need to promote those links- EARLIER!
So what would happen if we taught those symbols- alongside language
development? They start making a 'buh' sound with their mouths- why
not show them the symbol for 'buh' ie the letter b? This is not
because we want little Einsteins, or because we are pressurising
children- all we are doing is helping them to develop all of their
senses and encourage brain stimulation- linking things we later want
them to link in order to be able to read and spell well and with
confidence.
What do you think?
Emma
Emma Hartnell-Baker BEd Hons. MA Special Educational Needs
Creator of 'Read Australia™
http://www.ReadAustralia.com
Read Australia™ are developing a range of resources specifically
The Fresh Start to Literacy range is aimed at the 8 - 12 and 12+ age range.