To improve literacy, Iowa must start earlier than kindergarten
I have some concerns regarding Senate File 2195, in which Iowa senators weigh changes to teaching language.
Reading wars have been going on for generations, in which one approach or another becomes the fad of the year. In some years it was sight reading or whole language. In other years, it was a phonics-based approach. Currently the “science of reading” has determined that teaching methods should incorporate phonics, “fluency” in speaking, vocabulary and comprehension.
There is little disagreement that these elements provide critical components to the teaching of reading. The danger lies in assuming that a one-size-fits-all approach meets the needs of all children. Not all children learn the same way. Multiple methods should be available in a teacher’s toolbox and applied as needed. Many students may gain comprehension and fluency based on meaning drawn from context, structure, and syntax, visual cues and pictures, or memory as well. This should not be an either/or proposition.
My other concern is that there are other major factors that do not seem to be considered if Iowa students are to increase their proficiency in language and reading.
The pre-requisites to effective reading instruction, before phonics, are not being addressed. Kindergarten is already too late to begin. Reading must begin with oral language, the ability to hear and understand words and sentences. This becomes more refined as children are able to hear individual words in sentences; syllables within words; and individual sounds within syllables. It is called “phonemic awareness.” I think of it as ear training. Activities that support this include: talking, reading, listening, singing, dancing, clapping, all kinds of music and rhythm activities, play, vocabulary development, etc. These are critical pre-requisite skills before children are expected to map individual sounds to print, much less, actually comprehend what they are decoding. The more exposure young children have to the above experiences, the better their reading proficiency will become.
The research is unambiguous about the fact that the most critical stages for brain development, including the period when children develop language skills, is between the ages of 0 and 5. If we do not harness those ages, we are wasting time, money, and opportunities for our children.
Legislators are not educators or reading specialists. Instead of getting into the weeds of trying to dictate specific reading curricula, of which they are not qualified, they would contribute far more to young children’s literacy development by funding subsidies for quality child care programs and universal pre-school. This would harness the nurturing of those 0 to 5 brains during their most dynamic period of growth for language development (not to mention the other areas of intellectual, physical, social, and emotional development).
Mary Pat Lease of Iowa City taught in public and private schools in the areas of: Title 1, Special Education, learning disabilities, and early childhood. She also served as a literacy coach and a specialist in early literacy development.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: To improve literacy, Iowa must start earlier than kindergarten
