In the Beginning
By Susan Mandel Glazer

Each year, kindergarten and first grade teachers work with parents and caregivers to develop a team effort toward educating their students. In most instances, parents, grandparents and other caregivers are very willing and eager to participate. I'm sure, however, that you've encountered some parents and caregivers who may have conflicting beliefs about how beginners learn to read. Although it can be difficult to get parents on board with your approach, they ultimately want their children to love reading as much as you want them to. Here are my thoughts on some common misconceptions that I've encountered about reading.

Misconception #1. Beginning readers need to sound out words in order to learn to read.
This is a fallacy for several reasons. To begin, children need to associate first words with important things in their lives. The words that they learn grow naturally from daily activity and conversation. Children identify objects, ideas and events. Their parents, using books and pictures, point out the words that represent these items. To a young child, words are another picture of the object. They see the object or a representative picture and the word representing the object, and deduce that both identify the object.

Misconception #2. Beginning reading is, more than anything, a word identification behavior.
The mother of a toddler once said to me, "Debbie is only 18 months old, and she can read. I bought a kit and I'm teaching her to read with it. Watch." The mother then picked up a large card with the word "dog" printed on it. She pointed to the word and said, "Read this, Debbie." The child said, "Dog." "See! She reads!" exclaimed the mother. If word identification is reading, then Debbie is a reader. But does she understand what the word represents? That's the key.

Misconception #3. Comprehension is demonstrated by answering questions.
Many teachers ask questions immediately after their students read something in class. Parents also constantly test their children. "Which one is yellow?" asked a mother of a two-year-old as she held a bunch of crayons from which the child could choose. The problem with questions is quite simple – the person asking the question is identifying the subject matter that is of most importance to them. This means that we may never know what aspect of the content being studied is the most significant to the child. If we don't know that, then we are unable to know what the child is focusing on and what is important to him or her. I've found that successful comprehension can be demonstrated by noting if the child is able to connect ideas in texts to things he or she has experienced in his or her own life.

Misconception #4. Chapter books are more challenging than picture books.
This old wives' tale is dismantled by many picture books, including Lost by Paul Brett Johnson and Celeste Lewis (Orchard, 1996). Paul Brett Johnson's illustrations tell two simultaneous stories: one about a girl and her father's search for their lost dog and the other about the dog's adventures during his disappearance. The written text shares only the story about the young girl's search for her dog. The pictures, in various tones of yellow, coordinate with the written text telling the story of the search for the pet. Opposite each page are three colored pictures of the chaotic experiences of the lost dog, which communicate this story without written text.

Using this book with students from kindergarten through graduate school has convinced both me and my teachers that powerful pictures stimulate creative oral text, guide children to understand story structure, build interesting vocabulary through picture discussions and most importantly, assist students in their ability to connect what they see in the drawings to things in their lives.

Misconception #5. Sitting still, in an upright position with the book held just right, is a necessary element in order for beginning readers to succeed.
My favorite times are spent at the kitchen table with my feet up on a chair, book in one hand and a glass of white wine in another. Of course, the alcohol would not be included for kids, but there's nothing better than a glass of milk with a favorite cookie and a copy of the latest Harry Potter book.

As I'm sure you know, mistaken notions about reading and writing can hinder your students' successes. But, for those unfamiliar with the processes involved in learning how to read and write, these misconceptions must be addressed. Remember, getting children to read and love it is the goal of every parent and teacher. So, try to forget about old wives' tales, formal protocols and unnatural expectations, and concentrate instead on making reading an activity for which children learn to yearn.

Susan Mandel Glazer is the Director of the Center for Reading and Writing at Rider University in Lawrenceville, NJ.

November/December, 2006, Vol.37, No.3