The AIOs of teaching children to read

NEW YORK -- The ABCs of reading are more like the AIOs.

When children are learning to read, it's best to teach them the easiest skills first, usually identifying the short sounds of vowels -- such as the A in cat, says Wendy Bronfin, vice president of product development for Hooked on Phonics.

It's usually done A first, then I, O, U and E.

Long vowel sounds are more difficult because they are usually found in more complex spelling structures, she says. For example, to understand the long A in cane, the learner needs to know what effect the E at the end of the word has on the A.

Children learn letter sounds by seeing the letters, repeating the sounds represented by those letters and then repeating the sound as part of a word. It's what most adults will remember from their own childhood as "sound out the letter," Bronfin says.

Learning combinations

The B-L combination in blimp is easy, while some of the most difficult combinations are K-N as in knee or W-R as in wreath.

"Repetition and reinforcing the skills children have learned in a real-life setting is a powerful technique that can lead to mastery," says Bronfin, who also developed educational programs for Children's Television Workshop, which produces "Sesame Street."

"When parents point out familiar objects that reinforce the skills their children are learning, it helps children apply and master these skills and make them 'automatic.' When skills become automatic, children no longer have to focus on the skill, but can start to read for meaning," she says.

How long does it take? There is no magic number, but Bronfin says it's believed that after repeating a word approximately eight times, children "own" it. "This is how sight words are learned -- common words that kids see regularly, words like 'some' and 'says,' and even with familiar signs and brand names."

Hooked on Phonics' Learn to Read program is based on engaging children in games and other fun activities that are disguised educational exercises. In accordance with findings from the National Reading Panel, Hooked on Phonics also encourages reading aloud.

Have pre-readers turn pages and ask them questions about the pictures. As they begin to recognize letters, challenge them to find particular letters on a page, suggests Bronfin.

If you're reading a rhyming book, pause before the last word in each rhyming couplet and let the children say the word.

Phonics-based activities include:

* Grocery store letter hunt. There are lots of large signs at the grocery store ("Produce" "Dairy" "Sale") that parents can use to point out letters. Next time, have the kids point out letters to you. Street signs provide a similar opportunity.

* Footprint letters. Use your footprints to draw a letter in snow or sand and ask your children to guess what letter it is. Then have them retrace your footprints to walk out the shape themselves.

* Snack-time letters. Serve foods that can be shaped into letters or decorated with letter shapes, including spaghetti, string cheese or carved letters in peanut butter.

* Treasure hunt. Hide pennies or small candies near several objects around the house that all begin with a particular letter sound. For example, tell your children that candies are all hidden behind things that start with the M sound.

* I spy. At home or out, say to your children, "I spy something that begins with the M sound." Encourage them to guess what it is. When they do, ask them to challenge you the same way.

* Letter-sound collage. Save old magazines, catalogs and newspapers that have many pictures. Have your children search through these materials to find as many pictures as they can that begin with the M sound. Once they've collected them, glue the images to a piece of paper. Then you can write a large upper- and lowercase letter that makes that sound somewhere on the page.