As your child’s reading skills grow you will probably hear many different reading terms. Here are some words and phrases that your child’s teacher may use or you may read about in information sent home.
- Phonemic Awareness is when kids understand that sounds come together to make words. They have fun with sounds by sorting words by their first sound, saying the first or last sound, and blending sounds together. They learn that words are made of sounds and changing those sounds can make new words.
- Phonics is when kids connect the sounds they hear in spoken language to the letters they see in writing. When they understand this, they can recognize familiar words and figure out how to read and say new words.
- Phonological Awareness is when kids can hear and play with the sounds in words as they start learning to read. They learn that words are made of smaller sounds, like the beginning or ending sounds. By changing these sounds, they can make new words.
- Reading Comprehension is about understanding what we read. Kids can use different ways to help them understand, like using what they already know, looking at pictures and captions, making guesses about what will happen, forming mental images, asking questions, and summarizing.
- Fluency is being able to read words correctly, quickly, and with expression. When kids can do this, they can focus on understanding what the words mean instead of figuring out how to say them. Building fluency helps kids understand what they read better.
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Vocabulary is important for talking, listening, reading, and writing. The more words kids know, the better they can share their ideas. Knowing more words also helps them understand what they read. Kids learn words in two main ways: by hearing and seeing them while talking, listening, and reading, and by having parents or teachers explain what the words mean.