Teaching Children to Read: The Wisdom of Margaret Meek

I've written many posts on early reading, because in some ways, the very earliest reading is the most interesting. I never cease to be fascinated and amazed at how quickly toddlers move from chewing books, to looking with deep interest at pictures; vocalizing what they think about them, and then trying to read them to anyone who will listen. This is usually based on their version of the story, shaped by the events of life, contrived from images in the book and cultivated by their own growing love of story.

I was thumbing my way through my academic books today and stumbled upon Margaret Meek's classic book 'Learning to Read' published in 1982. I had the privilege of being able to call Margaret my friend. We caught up at conferences and my family were fortunate to have her stay with us in Wagga Wagga NSW, when she came speak to my students on campus. I also had the opportunity to stay with her in London and gain an insight into the things that shaped her own story. 

There is much wisdom in her well known book 'Learning to Read' that is still as relevant for parents and teachers today as it was 42 years ago. What are the key ingredients in helping children learning to read? In shorthand she would say a book, the attention of one adult (or older child) and shared enjoyment. Margaret wasn't a fan of 'readers', she always wanted to see 'real' books in their hands. So, her four key ingredients or assumptions were:

• First, reading is important and is more than retrieving information.
  
• Second, reading is learned by reading, not a series of exercises.
• Third, just what the young reader gets to read makes all the difference.
•  Fourth, collaboration between an adult, the child and a book is a key to this early reading.

As a parent sits with a book and a three or four-year-old to tell or read a story, she/he is collaborating and helping the child to understand the text.

 

Above: 'Too Many Acorns'

This love of books and 'play' with stories is an essential precursor for the lifetime act of reading, which eventually children learn to do alone. It is also one of the most precious times a parent or grandparent will have with children. 

Teachers can also engage the same way, not with them on your lap, but with them gathered around on a carpet looking with wonder at every page of a book and adding their own comments along the way. One class member says, "Oh, I can see the mouse hiding under the table". Another says, "Look at how many acorns Patrick has now. It's a very big pile!" (From 'Too Many Acorns', by Susannah Crispe). These are just some of the typical comments that young listeners might make as we read them stories.

Early reading is very much a collaboration between teacher, parent and child. It is one of the joys we can experience as we begin to teach our toddlers to read.

Not only will all children love stories, as Margaret Meek reminded us:

"Given encouragement, everyone is a storyteller. Any incident becomes a story in the telling of it, and the next simple step is to write it down." 

A love of reading develops as we read to our children and invite them into a rich world of storytelling, so that from the earliest age, they come to understand that books and their stories, open up new worlds to them, that stir their imaginations and lead them to become story tellers themselves.  

 

A FREE Program to Help Parents Support Preschool Learning

I co-wrote an online preschool support program for parents of children 0-4 years a few years ago with a colleague. I've posted on this before, but I thought I'd remind readers just in case they've messed it. It was released in 2018 by the 'Australian Literacy Educators Association'. The program is free and available on the Australian Literacy Association's site HERE. There isn't a catch, just free support and practical ideas for new parents who aren't sure how to help their children to learn in the preschool years. The program started out with my co-author Anita Ayre preparing activities for her daughter to support their first child. I was asked to partner with her to extend and develop an extensive online program for parents and grandparents. 

The online resource program is available FREE via the 'Australian Literacy Educators Association' website. The resource is called 'Little People's Literacy Learning: A guide for engaging parents and carers'. It offers practical help for parents and carers of children aged 0-5. And again, it's FREE! You don't need to be a member of ALEA to access to the resource is open to all.

This FREE online guide comes with hundreds of activities that you can enjoy with your child. Initially, there were 17 units. Now it has grown to 27 with new modules on 'Maths', 'Maths Language', 'Technology Use', 'Measurement', 'Space' and 'Pattern' just released. The modules will help parents to use simple activities as part of life. Some are incidental and others have some limited planning required. But all you need to know is explained in the modules. All activities are designed with an emphasis on learning through collaborative play and shared discovery. Why are so many of the recent modules related to maths? Because language and literacy have many important relationships to these topics.

Anita and I are experienced teachers, parents, and also (these days) active grandparents who love spending quality time with our grandchildren. In this resource, we offer a wealth of suggestions and hints for parents and carers who want to engage with their children in language, literacy learning and mathematics activities. Technology is also linked to many of these topics as well as now having a separate module. All activities are designed with an emphasis on learning through collaborative play and shared discovery. They can all be incorporated into daily life with very little (or often no) preparation! We offer hundreds of integrated examples throughout, including how new technology and multimedia can also enrich the learning experiences of your child with the same richness as other non-technology applications. You'll also find some advice on how to monitor and control screen time.

The resource contains practical and VERY doable common sense activities. You will find it HERE.

Supporting Preschool Children (0-4) at Home in Literacy, Maths & Technology Education

Readers of this blog might know that I co-wrote an online preschool support program for parents of children 0-4 years that was released in 2018. The Australian Literacy Educators Association has just uploaded the latest modules in this free online program. No catch, just free support and practical ideas for new parents not sure how to help their children to learn. This support program started out with my co-author Anita Ayre (my co-author) preparing activities for her daughter to support her first child (Anita's grandchild). I was asked to partner with her to develop this online program for parents and grandparents. 

The online resource program is available FREE via the 'Australian Literacy Educators Association' website. The resource is called 'Little People's Literacy Learning: A guide for engaging parents and carers'. It offers practical help for parents and carers of children aged 0-5. And again, it's FREE! You don't need to be a member of ALEA to access to the resource is open to all.

This FREE online guide was launched in 2017 for parents and carers comes with hundreds of activities that you can enjoy with your child. Initially, there were 17 units. Now it has grown to 27 with new modules on 'Maths', 'Maths Language', 'Technology Use', 'Measurement', 'Space' and 'Pattern' just released. The modules will help parents to use simple activities as part of life. Some are incidental and others have some limited planning required. But all you need to know is explained in the modules. All activities are designed with an emphasis on learning through collaborative play and shared discovery. Why are so many of the recent modules related to maths? Because language and literacy have many important relationships to these topics.

Anita and I are experienced teachers, parents, and also (these days) active grandparents who love spending quality time with our grandchildren. In this resource, we offer a wealth of suggestions and hints for parents and carers who want to engage with their children in language, literacy learning and mathematics activities. Technology is also linked to many of these topics as well as now having a separate module. All activities are designed with an emphasis on learning through collaborative play and shared discovery. They can all be incorporated into daily life with very little (or often no) preparation! We offer hundreds of integrated examples throughout, including how new technology and multimedia can also enrich the learning experiences of your child with the same richness as other non-technology applications. You'll also find some advice on how to monitor and control screen time.

The resource contains practical and VERY doable common sense activities. You will find it HERE.

Getting Children Ready for School: Free Preschool Resource for Parents and Carers

My colleague Anita Ayre and I have written a resource program that is available free via the Australian Literacy Educators' Association website. The resource is called 'Little People's Literacy Learning: A guide for engaging parents and carers'. It offers practical help for parents and carers of children aged 0-5. And it's FREE!

This FREE online guide for parents and carers comes with hundreds of activities that you can enjoy with your child. Some activities are incidental and some are planned. But all activities are designed with an emphasis on learning through collaborative play and shared discovery.

Anita and I are experienced teachers, and also active grandparents who love spending quality time with their grandchildren. In this resource, we offer a wealth of suggestions and hints for parents and carers who want to engage with their children in literacy learning and mathematics activities. All activities are designed with an emphasis on learning through collaborative play and shared discovery. They can all be incorporated into daily life with very little (or often no) preparation! We offer hundreds of integrated examples throughout, including how new technology and multimedia can also enrich the learning experiences of your child with the same richness as other non-technology applications. You'll also find some advice on how to monitor and control screen time.

The resource contains practical and VERY doable common sense activities. You will find it HERE.

Eight ways writing 'teaches' reading to under 5 year olds

Children begin to write early - very early! In fact, they begin to make marks on their world as soon as they can dip fingers into food, water and dirt. Once they can hold a pencil or crayon, or use simple apps on a drawing tablet, they are ready to 'compose'! It is important in the first two years of life that children are given the chance to experience writing. By this, I don't mean structured learning activities, I simply mean being encouraged to make marks that might represent meaning they want to attach to them - "This is a frog"! "My cat's got a fat tummy". Very early on children will scribble or make marks and attribute meaning to them.

There are many simple ways to encourage children to write:

a) Provide them with varied writing implements and materials to write on.
b) Encourage them to try to write letters and words.
c) Let them see you writing words and letters.
d) Encourage them to write their name, numbers and letters.
e) Let them see you writing and reading words at the same time.

Rich experiences of early writing have an impact on language and learning generally, and certainly reading.   Offering varied early experiences for writing is as important as reading to and with your children. Children who have rich early reading experiences will often be more precocious as writers.  Here are eight ways that early writing reinforces reading.

Photo from TTALL Literacy Project

1. Being read to and reading oneself offers us a rich experience of story - I've written in other posts about the importance of story to life and learning (e.g. here). Harold Rosen once suggested that 'Narratives...make up the fabric of our lives...'.  Jerome Bruner and others have gone further to suggest that story is 'a fundamental mode of thought through which we construct our world or worlds.' And of course, story is fuel for writing.

2. Reading offers models for writing - Reading also introduces us to varied ways to share a story, and how to start a story and end it. It helps us to learn how to develop a character, the art of description, humour, rhyme and rhythm. Dr Seuss is a master at such lessons.

3.  Reading teaches us about 'readership' -When children begin to have books read to them, and later begin to read for themselves, they realize that these stories have been written for them, the reader. Good writing requires a sense of audience, and stories read teach this. When children begin receiving letters, cards, or simply being shown print in their world, they begin to grasp that language isn't just to be received, but can also be created and shared with others as a writer.  They also learn that if you write for readers, and receive responses, that this is enjoyable and strengthens relationships.

An early letter from Elsie

4. Reading enriches language - There is no doubt that reading feeds children's writing. It introduces children to new words, novel use for old words, and the very important need to 'play' with language if you are to be a successful writer. Robert Ingpen's book 'The Idle Bear' demonstrates this well. It is essentially a conversation between two bears but it is rich in language and metaphor. He starts this way:

"What kind of bear are you?" asked Ted
"I'm an idle Bear."
"But don't you have a name like me?"
"Yes, but my name is Teddy. All bears like us are called Teddy." 

Later in the story a very confused bear asks:

"Where do you come from, Ted?"
"From an idea," said Ted definitely.
"But ideas are not real, they are only made-up," said Teddy. "You have to come from somewhere real to have realitives."
"Not realitives, relatives!" said Ted trying to hide his confusion.

Elsie's TV instructions

5. Reading introduces us to varied written genres - While children experience story from a very young age, reading also introduces them to the fact that language can be represented in different genres. Through reading at home and within their immediate world, children quickly discover that people write and read lists, notes, labels on objects, poems, jokes, instructions, maps and so on. Parents read and point out these varied text forms and eventually children try to use them.

My granddaughter Elsie's 'TV Instructions' (left), written aged five years, is a priceless set of instructions that she wrote for her Nanna just before she went to bed, so that Nanna could watch her favourite programs while babysitting.

6. Reading helps us to understand the power of words - Stories and other texts quickly teach children that words can have power. Signs give clear instructions in powerful ways - 'STOP', 'BEWARE OF THE DOG', 'CHILDREN CROSSING', 'KEEP OUT'. But well-chosen words express emotions too - "I love you", "It was dark and scary". Children also discover that words can do other things. With help they will enjoy discovering language forms like onomatopoeia, e.g. atishoo, croak, woof, miaow, sizzle, rustle etc.

7. Reading offers us knowledge - Children also discover that reading offers us knowledge that can feed writing. Without content there won't be writing. Books can captivate children and offer new areas of learning and interest. As they are read books, they also learn about their world. For example, they might discover that trees don't just have green leaves, but sometimes these leaves change colour, fall off and create a habitat for many creatures. Trees drop seeds which animals eat, offer shelter for animals, material to build homes and so on. But they are also homes for elves and animals that talk, places where strange lands appear regularly, and where a lost dragon might rest. Reading feeds writing with knowledge as raw material for writing.

8. Reading helps us to imagine and think - As children are introduced to varied literary genres and traditions, imaginations are awakened to the realms of fantasy, time travel, recreation of life in other times, the perils of travel through space. But at a more realistic level, reading can help young writers to imagine childhood in other places and times, 'within' the bodies of other people and with varied life roles. Through reading, children are given the examples and the fuel to imagine and write about themselves in the shoes of others, sharing their life circumstances as well as their challenges, fears and hopes.

  You can read all my other posts on writing HERE

Growing Preschool Writers & Learners: 12 Basics

Many parents ask me what they need to do to help their preschool children to become writers. They see this as one of the keys to success in school. Most start by asking some specific questions. Should I:

"Make sure they know their sounds before schools?"
"Teach them the letter names?"
"Teach them to write their name?"
"Make sure they can write neatly?"
"Teach them to read some simple words?"
"Teach them about numbers?"

These are all legitimate questions, but they side step the real writing 'basics' in the preschool years. If you want your child to succeed at school and in the workplace, and be able to use writing as creative people who solve problems, adapt to varied situations, feed varied life interests and become lifelong learners, then here are the things you want them to be able to do by the time they are five and head off to school. Ask yourself about the following areas of learning.

Enjoying playing with language - Do they know unusual words, enjoy finding out new ones, and play with rhyme and rhythm in language? Do they love telling stories, jokes and generally talking with other people?

Enjoying new stories with others in all their forms - Do they enjoy stories you tell them of your life, stories read to them, or even stories watched with others in the form of film and on television? Can they sustain concentration across a story?

Interest in numbers, letters and words - Do they want to learn about numbers, letters and words (e.g. "Show me what a thousand is Mum")? Do they try to write symbols and even include them in their creative play and drawing?

Creative story making with skills established early

Staying on task and sitting still for up to 30 minutes - Are they able to play alone or with others, complete a task they're interested in, listen to stories, engage in a play situation etc?

An expanding vocabulary - Are they learning new words, trying to invent their own, asking you about words and what they mean?

Learning from experience & support

Enjoying knowledge and the gaining of it - Are they curious about some area of interest (e.g. insects, dragons, horses, pets), and do they have a desire to know more and share it ("Did you know Mum that a stick insect is called a Phasmid, and there are lots of types")?

Possessing a love of books - Are books amongst your child's most special possessions because of the knowledge, stories and wonder that they hold?

Having an emerging knowledge of words, letters and the sounds associated with them - Does your child have some knowledge of letter names, some concepts of print and an interest in knowing how to read and write?

An interest in technology - Do they have a desire to explore their world with computers, and an interest in the knowledge and learning that technology can deliver and how it can expand our world?

An ability to be creative and inventive - Do they draw and make things inspired by a story, TV show, movie or experience? Do they want to dress up and act out characters and experiences, making shops, cubbies under the table, giving names and characters to their dolls and toys, using toys and other objects for creative story telling or re-creation?

Creative play in action, the foundation of imagination & problem solving

An interest in problem solving - Do they try to see how things work, try fixing things that are broken? Do they try to come up with ideas for how the problems of his or her world can be solved ("Mum, if we could knock off three palings on the fence I could make a gate to Cheryl's house")?

 

The ability to listen to, learn and comprehend - Do they listen to and learn from stories, lifestyle programs, movies, television shows, stories you tell them, recipes and instructions (spoken or pictorial)? 

The above are the real basics that children need to know to become greater writers and learners at school. The problem with them is that you can't just cram in the year before school. These basics are things that take time and effort by parents and preschool teachers. Each requires knowledge of the child, an interest in their learning and interests and the ability to observe our children in order to scaffold their learning. It takes years to create a writer and a learner.