According to the National Reading Panel, "teaching children to manipulate
phonemes in words was highly effective under a variety of teaching conditions
with a variety of learners across a range of grade and age levels and that
teaching phonemic awareness to children significantly improves their reading
more than instruction that lacks any attention to Phonemic Awareness." [1]
This is a statement made by the National Reading Panel (NRP) in their report
titled "TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ: An Evidence-Based Assessment of the
Scientific Research Literature on Reading and Its Implications for Reading
Instruction."
Phonemic Awareness instruction was selected for review by the NRP in their
report because studies have identified phonemic awareness and letter knowledge
as two of the best predictors of how well children will learn to read in their
first 2 years of entering school. There is strong Scientific evidence to
suggest that phonemic awareness instructions are an important part in helping
children develop reading skills.
One study discussed the presence of phonemic awareness in Austrian children
aged 6 to 7 that were unable to read when first entering school. This study
found that many children had not one correct response in their test of a
simple vowel substitution task. However, a few children who exhibited high
phonemic awareness scored close to perfect on this same task. The study
further stated that "there was a specific predictive relationship between
initial phonemic awareness differences and success in learning to read and to
spell." Even more importantly, the study indicated that it was phonemic
awareness abilities, and not IQ, that predicted the accuracy of reading and
spelling at the end of grade one. Children with high phonemic awareness at the
beginning of grade one had high reading and spelling achievements at the end
of grade one, compared to some children with low phonemic awareness who had
difficulties learning to read and spell. [2]
In the National Reading Panel report, they also determined that the beneficial
effects of phonemic awareness on reading lasts well beyond the period of
training. While phonemic awareness instructions are proven to significantly
help children learn reading, it is not a complete reading program. What it
does, is provide children with a foundational knowledge base of the alphabet
language. The NRP analysis also showed that phonics instructions produces
significant benefits for students from kindergarten through grade 6, and is
also helpful for children with learning to read difficulties.
Children who are taught with phonics and phonemic awareness instructions are
consistently able to decode, read, and spell, and even demonstrated
significant improvement in their ability to comprehend text. Even older
children who receive these similar teachings improved their ability to decode
and spell. The NRP made a key statement saying that "conventional wisdom has
suggested that kindergarten students might not be ready for phonics
instruction, this assumption was not supported by the data. The effects of
systematic early phonics instruction were significant and substantial in
kindergarten and the 1st grade, indicating that systematic phonics programs
should be implemented at those age and grade levels."
However, I would like to further expand on that by saying that children as
young as two years old can learn to read through phonics and phonemic
awareness instructions. If a young child can speak, then they should be able
to learn to read, even if they are as young as two years old. In fact, I have
proven this with my own children. We started teaching our daughter at 2 years
and 8months, and she was very capable at reading by the time she was just 2
years and 11 months old.
SEE ALSO:
3 Tips to Teach Your child How to Read
0 on: "What's the best way to teach children to read?"