Learning to read made fun

Working in the field I do, I often have interested parents asking me how they can help their kids learn to read. Often the child seems ready before the given school going age. I also have many parents ask what they can do to boost their child’s reading. This has led me to think a lot about reading – and what goes into learning to read, and how we can help kids read better.

If reading is a bicycle tyre, then the spokes are all the different strategies that go into being a reader. Think of your child as being the hub at the centre of the wheel. What you want to do is make sure there are many spokes going out to support the tyre. Sensory Perception forms several of these spokes.

Perception is the ability interpret information using our sense. It is also the way in which something is regarded, understood, or interpreted.

Perceptual development that is vital for a developing child’s cognitive abilities, for him to be able to socialise, develop a sense of self-awareness, master hand-eye co-ordination and memory skills. Without the ability to perceive, it is impossible for the developing child to have a real sense of who they are and how they fit into the world. This is how your child makes sense of the world.

Although there are many types of perception, the two most common areas are visual and auditory perception. So much information is processed through sight and sound, it is vital for a child to develop good perceptual skills in both visual and auditory perception.

In reading children need to use their visual and auditory perceptive skills. Children need to be able to perceive letters, be aware of the link between letter sounds and characters, blend certain letters together and have knowledge of sight words. There is a lot more to reading that just knowing your alphabet. Once your child is reading, more spokes need to be secured to the tyre – reading with comprehension, accuracy and speed. All this, plus several other things that go into reading.

You can develop the young child’s perception through games like puzzles and brain teasers.

For the Preschooler, I particularly love the Orchard Toys range. They seem to have a good understanding of kids and their games are bright, fun and easy to enjoy. My current favorite’s include Veg Patch Match, Lunch Box Game and Rhyme Robber. Djeco is another developer of kid’s games. Their Topologix is an excellent game for practicing spatial relationships, and where something is in space.

For the Foundation Phase Child, the BrainBox range of games is outstanding. BrainBox is a visual perception game, with each box focusing on a different area of interest – such as Brainbox Dinosaurs, BrainBox Space; BrainBox Sports etc. There are so many titles here, pick the one you think you child would be most interested in. BrainBox abc, and BrainBox English are outstanding.

Another firm favorite is “Spot It”. It is a game of speed, visual perception and reflexes! Even adults will enjoy this game. It’s a simple tin of 55 round playing cards. Each card has on it 8 symbols selected from a possible 50 (heart, bomb, lips, waving hand, car, etc.) Each card shares one, and only one, matching symbol with every other card in the deck. The trick is to spot the matching symbol. “Spot It” is a clever simple perceptual game that can be played with equal enjoyment by any age. Try it! You won’t be disappointed.

For the Intermediate Child, more challenging perceptual games can be introduced. These can be played by the whole family, and often become firm favorites! One of my favorite games is “Swish”. Swish is a visual perception card game that challenges you to be the first to make matches, or “Swishes.” Players create “Swishes” by layering cards together to orient coloured balls inside coloured hoops. The player with the most matches at the end of the game wins. Spatial intelligence is completely flexed and exercised in this game because you’re not allowed to touch the cards. You must flip them and move them in your mind to understand how they would fit. Players are forced to be patient, to look at all possible combinations, and to mentally manipulate the cards. Rotate, flip and stack the cards. It is a thinker’s game as it surely makes players evaluate their decision before calling “Swish” and physically handling the cards. The best part is it is a small, compact game that can be played around the dinner table or in an airport if you are killing time. It is fun for ALL the players and it is amazing how quickly skills develop through this game. It is on my MUST HAVE list!

Developing good auditory perception is another skill children can work on. Much of the learning taking place in a mainstream school requires good auditory perception. For the Preschool child, and the child in the Foundation Phase, much time is spent on phonemic awareness – this is the ability to hear the different letter sounds in a word. Phonemic awareness is a component of auditory perception. Rhyming is a skill that has been strongly linked to early reading success, and is a good way to practice phonemic awareness. “Pop for Rhyming” and “Rhyme Robber” are great games to engage in at this phase.

As children develop through the Intermediate phase into adults, auditory perception games become less common. In this phase I would highly recommend listening to audio books. Kids are constantly tested on their listening ability. Encourage them to practice their listening skills by listening to stories, and even their set work books. Modern technology has made downloading audiobooks easy. Next time you are in traffic, let your kids listen to a story! This is a vital skill for development. Listening to stories in the second language can also benefit second language acquisition.

By: Sarah Ohlson de Fine

Sarah Ohlson de Fine is a qualified Foundation Phase Teacher and the owner of www.learningtools.co.za an online shop that specialises in educational games and resources.