READING

READINESS

Definition
A stage that the child transforms from being a nonreader to a reader.
The time at which a child is capable of learning to read.
Children who are in kindergarten and first grade are
just beginning to learn to read.

Aspects of Reading Readiness

They have been taught to recognize symbols and match the symbol-clusters with certain
verbal stimuli since they are still a babies.
They have even been able to identify objects symbolized by the printed, written or
vocalized stimulus.
Parents should help their children by:
o Playing with rhymes - Teach the child rhymes, poems, and songs. (Eg: taking turns
rhyming words)
o Creating stories Make up story for a picture book
o Practicing the alphabet Read alphabet books, make letter cookies or pretzels, make
play-dough letters, look for letters in the newspaper or magazines.
o Listening to the child read Be patient to listen to the child read. Help sound out words
as necessary.
o Reading together every day Make reading as a habit. Make it exciting by being
expressive and using different voices for the character.

 Before entering kindergarten or first grade, a student well prepared should be able
to:
o Read her name
o Recite the alphabet
o Recognize some or all of the letters in the alphabet
o Correspond some or all letters with their correct sound
o Make rhymes
o Hold a book right side up with the spine on the left, front cover showing
o Recognize that the progression of text is left to right, top to bottom
o Echo simple text that is read to them
o Recognize that text holds meaning
o Re-tell a favourite story

Factors that Affecting Reading

Readiness
Family
o The language patterns within the home.
o The concern and interest of the parents in stimulating the child to explore new
thing.
o The attitudes that the parents have toward learning, toward school and toward
books.
o The model that the parents to the child.
o The care with which they provide mental content, or experiential background.
Emotional stability and maturity
o Outgoing, expansive, and adventurous.
o Ready to explore more.

Theories of Reading Readiness

Psycho linguistic, Kenneth Goodman (1967) and Frank Smith (1978),
views meaning as a communicative function of language and a
primary concern from the very beginning of reading instruction.
John Downing (1979), the Cognitive Clarity Theory, emphasizes the
chief aim of reading instruction should be a clear understanding of
why people read and write (functional concepts), and how they code
language in writing.
Both investigations have also explored the childs understanding of
the technical vocabulary used by the teachers during the beginning of
reading instruction.
Related research has emphasized the beginner's lack of awareness of
interword space as a cueing convention for the written word.

 Piagets theory: Stage of development

o Sensorimotor (0 2)

Goal-directed behaviour

Object permanence (represents objects in memory)

In this stage, children use their motor capacities, such as grasping object, to
understand the world

Children at this stage also develop the ability to imitate (learn through observing)
o Preoperational (2 7)

Rapid increase in language ability

Symbolic thought

Dominated by perception

Make enormous progress in language development

Reflect their growth in the ability to use symbols

Learn huge numbers of concept

Concrete Operational (7 11)

Operates logically with concrete materials

Classifies and serial orders

Make sense on what physically see

Able to understand the perspectives of storybook characters and

better understand the views of others

The formal operational stage (11 Adult)

Thinking is tied to the real and tangible

Thinks combinatorically

References
Allphin, L. (2011). 10 Reading Readiness Skills for Kindergarten Kids |
Education.com. Education.com. Retrieved 19 March 2016, from
http://www.education.com/magazine/article/Pre_Kindergarten_Reading_Skills/
Eggen, P., & Kauchak, D. (2014). Educational Psychology Windows on Classrooms
(9th ed., p. 48). America: Pearson Education Limited.
Schifferdecker, S. (2007). Reading Readiness. Education.more4kids.info. Retrieved
20 March 2016, from http://education.more4kids.info/38/reading-readiness/
Smith, D., & Chapel, J. (1970). Scholarworks.wmich.edu. Retrieved 19 March 2016,
from
http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2702&context=reading
_horizons
Swanson, B. (1984). Scholarworks.wmich.edu. Retrieved 20 March 2016, from
http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1923&context=reading
_horizons