Phase 2, Do all Children Read the Same Way, Continued

Here's a continuation of the question we considered in my a previous blog post,  "Do all children read the same way."

To quickly review, the answer  is "yes!" I explained there are five literacy phases through which each child progresses. Phase 0 ( http://tinyurl.com/2dlfk5k) and Phase 1 (http://tinyurl.com/2d3dwcn) were highlighted in previous postings.


 

Now, let's  look at what happens in Phase 2, age 3 to 6



Your toddler begins learning the alphabet, matching beginning and prominent letters to sounds and labeling drawings or writing messages with a few letter-sound matches. You can read these early Phase 2 writing such as HMT DPD for Humpty Dumpty. Some of the sounds in the words are represented by letters, but not all of the sounds. Sometimes the Phase 2 writer gets only beginning or beginning and ending sounds.

"Phase 2 is exciting for both children and parents because everyday life explodes with illustrations of literacy learning. This is when children begin reading lots of easy little books from memory and writing their first messages that you can read. Your child’s mind absorbs great knowledge of letters and soon will begin to learn how sounds match with them. He or she can talk about sophisticated concepts during read alouds and book sharing. Knowledge about letters and sounds grows in leaps and bounds. Imagine the thrill of a parent being able to read the first written message from a child such as C MOM! I KN RT!" Gentry, Raising Confident Readers: How to Teach Your Child to Read and Write—from Baby to Age 7 (New York, Da Capo Press, 2010), 126

For more information on Phase 2 plus activities for moving Phase 2 readers and writers forward, see Chapter 6 of Raising Confident Readers. (Now available on line at Amazon.com or in bookstores everywhere.)