{"id":22225,"date":"2020-09-25T02:50:32","date_gmt":"2020-09-25T02:50:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=22225"},"modified":"2020-09-28T20:59:49","modified_gmt":"2020-09-28T20:59:49","slug":"teaching-kids-to-read-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic-5-questions-answered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/teaching-kids-to-read-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic-5-questions-answered\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching kids to read during the coronavirus pandemic: 5 questions answered"},"content":{"rendered":"

Keisha McIntosh Allen<\/a>, University of Maryland, Baltimore County<\/a><\/em> and Kindel Turner Nash<\/a>, University of Maryland, Baltimore County<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Keisha McIntosh Allen<\/a> and Kindel Turner Nash<\/a> research how kids learn to read and prepare future teachers at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. They are also raising children of their own. Here, they answer five questions many families and teachers may have about what they are seeing with virtual learning for early childhood education.<\/em><\/p>\n

1. How do most kids learn to read?<\/h2>\n

Nash:<\/strong> Long before they enter kindergarten, most kids can \u201cread\u201d the words they encounter in their favorite books or around their home, on street signs and anywhere else they go.<\/p>\n

Allen:<\/strong> Establishing routines that involve reading can help, such as reading them books \u2013 whether they are printed on paper or accessed through digital devices \u2013 and letting them watch others read. For example, my 1-year-old pretends that she can read because she often sees her 6-year-old brother reading.<\/p>\n

Kids typically learn to read books through a series of phases<\/a>, which often overlap. Initially, they \u201cread\u201d pictures in their storybooks<\/a>, rather than the words, often in books others have read to them before<\/a>. Then, they pretend to read words they\u2019ve memorized<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Nash:<\/strong> Making reading fun can also develop a love of reading. Before my four kids, who are now teenagers, went to school, for example, they loved to hear their dad read aloud stories like Virginia Hamilton\u2019s \u201cTaily-po\u201d in a scary, mysterious voice. \u201cTaily-po,\u201d part of Hamilton\u2019s \u201cThe People Could Fly<\/a>\u201d collection, is a folk tale about a \u201cpeculiar\u201d creature that has lost its tail. All four love reading and are avid readers now.<\/p>\n

Allen:<\/strong> Eventually, usually in kindergarten and first grade, kids begin to read the words<\/a>, but only the most basic and simple ones. Finally, ideally by third grade, they start to read fluently<\/a> \u2013 the technical term<\/a> for being able to read quickly while comprehending the text.<\/p>\n

2. Does social distancing make it harder to teach reading?<\/h2>\n

Allen:<\/strong> Social distancing could pose real challenges. This is because learning to read is an inherently social<\/a> activity. Also, when children attend school in person, most reading instruction happens between teachers and other students.<\/p>\n

Nash:<\/strong> Social distancing can be overcome if families and educators work together during this time. If educators do a better job of involving families, some children will probably learn to read more quickly learning to read more quickly than before.<\/p>\n

Allen:<\/strong> It\u2019s also important for teachers to consider and build upon the reading routines that families already have at home<\/a> like those mentioned above. My local library has a subscription to Ready Rosie<\/a>. This research-based parenting curriculum is intended to help families get children ready to enter elementary school.<\/p>\n

3. What\u2019s potentially at stake?<\/h2>\n

Nash:<\/strong> Many families and teachers are worried that children will fall behind during the coronavirus pandemic. In terms of reading, this concern is quite reasonable, given that only 35% of fourth graders<\/a> could read at or above their grade level before the pandemic, according to a federal standardized test.<\/p>\n

Allen:<\/strong> As an educator and a Black mother, however, my greatest fear is that remote learning will turn my 6-year-old son away from learning altogether. Children of color<\/a> are disproportionately negatively impacted by schooling. I fear that instruction that is not engaging in an online context will manifest in my son\u2019s teacher not recognizing his brilliance through the computer screen, especially if it is not legible in the ways some teachers view kids or have been taught to evaluate student knowledge.<\/p>\n

Nash:<\/strong> Similarly, I fear that the way teachers either do or don\u2019t engage my Black multiracial teens could have a lasting academic impact on their attitudes and feelings about school. I am concerned that this might one day affect their ability to get into the college they want or to access honors or AP courses in the future.<\/p>\n