Creative Curriculum Connections

“Auntie, that’s so good you are studying Nepali!”

When my little six year old friend, Salwyn, in Pune said this to me it reminded me of how important it is for our children and students to see us studying and reading for our own sakes. Over and over again, I have seen that when teachers and parents read their children more readily do the same. Here I don’t mean reading aloud to a child (though this too is important) or helping with homework but reading for your own pleasure and needs.

So as I sat on the couch reading my beginning Nepali book, Salwyn sat next to me studying his English spelling words. He actually studied with a smile on his face as he glanced over once in awhile to see if I continued to study.

I see this in classrooms when teachers read silently as their whole class reads. They do not read children’s books but material that interests them: newspapers, magazines, recipe books, etc. When the whole classroom reads silently each day (and the teacher is not evaluating, filing etc but also reading) reading becomes an important and enjoyable part of the classroom.
I encourage families, too, to have a time in the evening where the entire family reads in silence for 15-20 minutes. This includes two year olds who can flip through hard cardboard books just for them. After you could even discuss what each member read! When you do this consistently reading and the joy of reading becomes part of your family culture.

Yes, turn the television off and read just for fun!!

Please do not teach your children the alphabet!!!

Okay, now that I have your attention, let me explain. When we teach students beginning reading in English we so often think that they need to know the names of each letter in the alphabet. This is not true!!

In fact, the names of the letters actually prove to be a stumbling block for many beginning readers of English. Let’s think about it the letter “N” is named “en” but that is not its sound. So when a person who only knows the names of the letters comes to “N” they say “en” not the phonetic sound. Do you see where I am going with this? Let’s look at the word “nest.” Someone not yet familiar with our written language but who has just learned the names of the letters will say “enest” (if they even get that far because they will probably also say “es” instead of “ssss”). This, of course, makes no sense.

So the simple solution, please teachers and families teach the letter sounds immediately not the letter names. You will be amazed at how much more quickly your learners will begin to read.

Another quick tip: When helping students sound out words help them blend letters together at least two at a time. So for example do not isolate "p" and "a" in the word "pat" but help learner look at the two beginning sounds together "pa" then put the final "t" sound. Try it! It works!!

Hey Everyone,

Just a quick thought. As I work with a child labeled “hyperactive” I wonder why we continue to call our children names. We so often teach children not to call each other names but we still do!!

Really, does this name calling offer any kind of encouragement, help or support to families? It doesn’t. It adds stress and worry. Do we need to do that as educators?

When speaking to a parent just get right to your suggestions for helping the child. If the child has trouble completing a task help the family set up a schedule, or break down the task into more manageable parts. We teach to help, to support, to connect, to love---not to call names.

Thanks for listening!
Nina