Author Samantha D’Alonzo is an NYC early childhood educator with 23 years of experience working with students from Pre-k thru 6th grade. Coming from the private sector, she has spent years working with young readers developing reading skills and using different methods of reading to understand how to best help young readers to read. As the author states, "Reading is not a guessing game. It involves a deeper understanding of sounds and symbols. As teachers it is up to us to offer our students the tools and skills to unlock that understanding.”
WHY CAN’T KIDS TODAY READ WELL?
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From preschool through third grade, children are typically taught fundamental skills to learn to read. By third grade and beyond, children use reading skills to acquire new academic knowledge. By the time they reach fourth grade children should no longer be learning to read but rather reading to learn. Children who can’t read proficiently by the 4th grade are up to 15 times more likely to drop-out of school. Sadly, in the U.S., two-thirds of all children and 82% of children in low-income families read below grade level. (Annie E Casey Foundation & NAEP)
Some might suggest that this can be attributed to the failure to address the poor reading development by our children when they are still young. The National Assessment of Educational Progress reveals that 37 % of U.S. fourth graders fail to achieve basic levels of reading achievement. And even before they enter school their literacy development can be traced back to their exposure at home.
A mother’s reading skill is the greatest determinant of her children’s future academic success, outweighing other factors, such as neighborhood and family income (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2010).
Through this author's own research, both in the public and private sector, there is a lack of a general consensus of what is the best “method” of teaching kids to read. But, what research is showing us is that many kids are not being taught how to read. All kids can learn to read if they are taught the right skills.
What are the right skills to teach reading? We know that there is no one way to teach a child to read. However, the new evidence-based body of knowledge referred to as the “Science of Reading'' (Lyon & Chhabra, 2004) states that students need explicit instruction in the critical elements of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary,and reading comprehension (NICHD, 2000). Systematic and explicit reading instruction also increases the likelihood that young readers possess the appropriate prior knowledge they need to successfully navigate more advanced concepts associated with the progression of learning to read (Adams, 2001)
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