justplainbil

Just Plain Bill

Learning to Read

The other day, a friend was talking about her four-year old grandson loving to read. Our conversation reminded me of what I’d learned nearly 40 years ago in a San Francisco State University language arts course, as preparation for my California teaching credentials. SF State was known as a premier teacher preparation school, and continues to be so to this day.

Our professor assigned the book Teacher, by Sylvia Ashton-Warner. A New Zealand teacher, Ashton-Warner noticed her Maori students were not learning how to read using typical English school teaching methods. (Additional books assigned during this period of teaching introspection and revolution in the 60s, included Death at an Early Age, by Jonathan Kozol, and Summerhill, by A.S. Neill.)

What I learned from Ashton-Warner was the simple but effective act of transcribing, or recording children telling you a story. Although requiring a little more labor, transcribing by hand also models for the child the act of “writing”, a skill that can evolve naturally, if nurtured.  This is especially applicable when children draw pictures, having them tell you the “story” of what they are drawing.

This is an inexpensive, simple process, and I found the children were often able to read their own words, enriching their vocabulary in a natural way. (Research has shown that most children have a much richer vocabulary than that included in primary grade language curriculum.)

I’d love to spread the word about this fail-safe approach to teaching an invaluable, life-long skill. Help me spread the word!

The author is a credentialed teacher, with a Masters Degree in Elementary Education, with an emphasis in reading, with over 25 years of public school and higher education teaching, and over 35 years of experience and accomplishments as a trainer and course developer in the corporate world.