Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T08:48:34.975Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

2 - How children begin to read

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 June 2018

Clare Wood
Affiliation:
Professor of Psychology in Education at Coventry University and is Editor in Chief of the Journal of Research in Reading
Get access

Summary

Introduction

One of the reasons why I work in the area of children's reading development is because my brother experienced substantial difficulties learning to read and write and was finally identified as experiencing developmental dyslexia at the age of 35. I watched him labour over reading activities and struggle with expressing himself in writing, and I watched the impact that these experiences had on his confidence and behaviour during childhood and early adulthood. His difficulties contrasted starkly with my own love of reading and writing, and this made me reflect on why he experienced so much difficulty in something that I saw as effortless and enjoyable.

As a researcher, I know that reading is something that is learned, and therefore is something that must be taught. Children at risk of reading and writing difficulties can be identified early in childhood and supported with the right tuition and resources both at home and at school. My own work has been concerned with these issues of early identification and effective intervention, but there is still a great deal to be learned about effective literacy tuition.

This chapter is intended to offer a simple introduction to the topic of early reading development, which will give an idea of the initial stages that readers go through on their journey towards skilled, fluent reading. This is followed by some more practical material on what skills and activities appear to be important for reading development at different stages of the journey. The aim of this material is to offer the reader some food for thought on how both typically and atypically developing readers can be supported during these early stages of reading through activities that you can try out both as an individual and professionally in the context of library-based sessions with children. Much of this is based on my own research interests and personal views, and what is offered here is a taster of what the research literature has to offer, rather than being an exhaustive overview of everything we currently know on the topic. I hope that you find it as interesting as I do.

Type
Chapter
Information
Read to Succeed
Strategies to Engage Children and Young People in Reading for Pleasure
, pp. 15 - 28
Publisher: Facet
Print publication year: 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • How children begin to read
    • By Clare Wood, Professor of Psychology in Education at Coventry University and is Editor in Chief of the Journal of Research in Reading
  • Edited by Joy Court
  • Book: Read to Succeed
  • Online publication: 08 June 2018
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.29085/9781856049238.004
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • How children begin to read
    • By Clare Wood, Professor of Psychology in Education at Coventry University and is Editor in Chief of the Journal of Research in Reading
  • Edited by Joy Court
  • Book: Read to Succeed
  • Online publication: 08 June 2018
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.29085/9781856049238.004
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • How children begin to read
    • By Clare Wood, Professor of Psychology in Education at Coventry University and is Editor in Chief of the Journal of Research in Reading
  • Edited by Joy Court
  • Book: Read to Succeed
  • Online publication: 08 June 2018
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.29085/9781856049238.004
Available formats
×