Let’s face it, not everyone is a born reader. Students fall behind for various reasons, failures happen and we can’t always prevent them. However, if we consider two perspectives, from both Parents and Teachers, we can learn how to minimize reading problems, as a whole.
Being a parent of a child who is experiencing difficulty with reading and comprehension, the emotions of finding a solution can be overwhelming and frustrating. Learning to read well is a skill that takes time, it never happens overnight. As parents, we know this, but it doesn’t make the acceptance any easier.
While investing time is a crucial requirement, learning to read also calls for dedication, patience, and love. Parents must learn to recognize early signs of their child struggling to read. Even apprehension to read should be analyzed as a possible indication of a reading problem. Recognizing trouble is only the first half of the task bestowed upon the parent. The second half is creating and implementing a plan for your child’s reading development, which is essential for progression. Speak with the school, teachers and support staff and collaborate on the best way to move forward with your child’s needs in mind.
The Teacher’s Role in Reading
How do teachers and schools prevent reading failures? In today’s society, our American educational system utilizes techniques that not only identify the early warning signs of students at risk but help implement procedures that deliver accurate, individualized plans for each student. As the pairing between technology and testing has greatly improved over the past decade, schools and teachers now have new tools for early detection and prevention.
“Today, it is possible to screen all children for weaknesses in reading development, diagnose reading problems as early as kindergarten, and deliver intensive, data-driven treatments such that 94 to 98 percent of early elementary children can reach reading levels in the average range for their grade, creating the foundation for more advanced reading.”
What would have once taken many months, diagnosing a child with a reading deficiency, can now be done with the aid of technology and a few simple tests in a matter of days. Years of research and studies show a direct numerical data correlation between those students who have trouble reading in the 4th grade and those who displayed signs of trouble reading in Kindergarten and 1st grade. Identifying those students who need help at an early age and delivering it to them in a concise and mapped out program has resulted in a vast improvement in the later years of reading and comprehension.
Summary of Perspectives
What does that mean, what is the take-away from both perspectives? Early detection is key; you can save a child years of suffering and stress if you are aware of reading difficulties right away. As parents and teachers, we need to understand that preventing early reading failure is a step-by-step process, a joint venture, involving both sides to create a positive impact on our students. What will you do if you see a student who is falling, struggling to read?
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