Teaching your children to read - your job or the teachers?

[clarlce]

Apparently, according to Ms Frost, 33% of parents NEVER read to their children.

What lengths should parents go in supporting their children in learning to read?

I volunteer as a reading assistant in my local primary school and the variation in the level of ability, in one year group, is significant and would certainly make it extremely difficult for a teacher to accommodate all those differing abilities.

From my point of view i cannot understand why any parent would want to hold their child back, especially as the benefit of a one-to-one session with mum or dad can have about the same impact as weeks of school.

I am not just talking about reading to your children before bed etc. but actively, imaginatively teaching them how to read as a teacher might.
Is it a parents responsibility to make the teachers and, of course, the child's life easier?

I can say from personal experience that when a child starts school and they can already read we are thrilled. The child can then further develop their reading skills within the classroom, they can encourage other children who are reluctant readers to read - nothing like wanting to have a go if a friend can already do it and their self esteem goes from strength to strength. Without wanting to sound like a grump, it does always bring a feeling of despair if the same child who has received so much input from home with reading, counting to 10 in English, French and Spanish hasn't had the same amount of encouragement when learning please, thank you and sharing. Parents who develop these skills for their children are respected and applauded by those who work within classroom settings.

yep. ds can't read upon starting school but he is confident, polite, keen to learn, respectful, able to sit still and pay attention etc etc. i haven't taught him to read but i have taught him all of the skills and attributes needed to make him easy to teach.

surely if children are interested, confident, good at listening and paying attention then a trained professional can get on with their job and do the technical bit?

SwallowedAfly. You say you haven't taught him to read but by encouraging ds to pay attention, be respectful and giving him a home environment where he is keen to learn, you have done the hard part yourself - teaching him to read will be a pleasure for the classroom staff as will all his other subjects I'm sure.

swallowedAfly - I would definitely ask whether it's possible for the school to give a handout with intro to phonics, I think a lot of schools do this.

I also think it's important for schools to keep reminding parents about how their home reading system works, as ime it can be confusing. Another parent said to me once 'they never seem to change the reading books over', not realising that they were supposed to 'request' a new book by signing the child's reading book once the book had been read at home. A simple misunderstanding, but unless parents are reminded frequently about how the system works, things slip and opportunities are missed.

mrz - 'both able to read and write their own name' nothing else, just beginning to be keen iyswim.
the first two both started this way, and by year 2 could not read beyond cvc words. we hired a tutor for the first one; the second one is now in Year 2 and unable to read very much.
The third is being taught by my mum, very old fashioned, but is already confident at nearly 4, able to recognise familiar words, and i am tempted to let my mum get on with it.

To start with - English is not my first language. I first learned to read and write in a language that is phonetic in its spelling, making it much easier to learn. Not many parents actually taught they children to read/write, differences in learning seemed to be based on seeing written language, not just TV, used at home.

So the question is:
Should I expect that I will need to actively teach reading/writing skills in English to DD who just started reception - a child that can see its parents read a lot, has been read to a lot and does not have linguistic barriers it seems. The school has generally a very good record.

Since I am the parent spending more time at home, I will need to take the teaching role. I am avoiding communicating with my children in English, which so far pays off well with they bilingual development. However I will need to rethink this if I can expect to need to take a leading role in literacy in English. Dad is happy to read night time and hear her read out some words, but evening only really.

Any opinions? people in similar situation

i reckon put the bilingual bit first krys and later you'll presumably take a lead in teaching them reading/writing in that language too?

i honestly think that a child who has no learning difficulties, has literate, articulate parents, is read stories and encouraged to progress should have no problems being taught to read at school. otherwise i am a bit confused as to what the point of school is

if dh is doing reading with them at night he can be the reading support surely? i think most parents only have time for a bit of stuff at night especially in households where both parents work full time.

Thank for a balanced answer.
I do think that school is supposed to teach, but I also have heard a lot of opinions suggesting that a lot of parents needed to do reading exercises with their children.
I am interested to see other opinions.
I am trying to judge how common it is, for children that have interest in written words, to need a structured support or is it just in case of the kids who are totally absorbed by e.g. football ? - waiting what will happen with DS there

I continue to be a bit puzzled by phonics....always trying to adhere obediently to what the school/teachers advise us to do with sounds, but I always seem to come up against words like "laugh", "enough", "photograph" etc etc which seem impossible/hilarious for phonics novices. Hence I have tried to do phonics with simple words - cat, boot, ship, etc but for complicated ones I just stick to the way I myself was taught, and accept that children's brains are flexible enough to learn it both ways

With regards reading, I personally believe that parents don't have to be English professors or linguistic experts when it comes to reading with their offspring - or attempt to be. So whether they have learnt to read from you or from school, or both, is irrelevant, as long as the reading takes place. I think if you can set aside some time to read really enjoyable books, it 1) is great bonding time and makes you feel appreciated as a parent, 2) great for giving children attention in a healthy way, 3) encourages children to treat reading as an enjoyable, fun activity and to try it for themselves. I love the bedtime story time when you have their rapt attention and they are generally too tired or calm to run around and be naughty. Reading at other times - eg when they've received a new book or located a long-forgotten one - makes you feel cosy, needed and is quite calming and therapeutic for the reader too. Don't forget, one day they'll be 18 or over, don't need to you read to them, and you're wishing you saw more of them. Most children eventually do pick it up themselves after having been read to regularly over a long period.

There are also of course, some parents whose educational background or not having English as a first language makes reading a real challenge for them. This need not be insurmountable. There are children's books out there which include a CD of the story - I would recommend listening to these to "rehearse" and then practising reading it out before attempting it in front of your child, to avoid getting embarrassed or uncomfortable with a difficult section. That's what I used to do when learning foreign languages, and can recommend it works.