Blog
Where’s the Magic Wand?
- 17 February, 2016
- Posted by: Katrina Casey
- Category: Reading
I have been thinking about blogging for some time – just thinking about and creating all sorts of posts, just mentally. And of course, I have done nothing!!
So I have decided that today’s the day – well actually, it was supposed to be Monday, but there you go. The ability to blog, or to start to blog, made me draw comparisons to ability to read or to begin to read.
In the beginning, it is nerve racking – what if the post is boring, what if it is not engaging etc…
but just like learning to read, or teaching a little one to read, you just have to go for it!!
There is no magic wand, and trust me, I have been searching for one for years. That magic wand would be so convenient, just one wave, and your child could read. But no such luck.
You will get bogged down for years if you google the best way to teach children to read. It is a contentious issue and there are very strong schools of thought – phonetics or not phonetics, sight words or not, and so it goes, on and on.
But after many years (over twenty-five years – very scary!!) of teaching young children to read, I know that there is no one best way to teach children how to read, it is a combination of many things. But what the most essential elements are, are time and commitment.
Remember the good old saying, “Practice makes perfect”? This is so true when helping young children learn to read. As parents, we are busy, busy, busy, busy. But what surprises me, is that when we enrol our children in music lessons, we suddenly have the time to constantly remind our children to ‘practise, practise, practise!’ I’m sure my reminders were even longer than the practice sessions.
So when it comes to helping our children read, surely it is a no–brainer. Let’s get them to practise, practise, practise. Let’s commit to the practice and lock in the time, you never know, you might just find that magic wand!
Until next time (hopefully again before the year’s out!)
Cheers!