Study Reveals that Homeschool Parents Want
the Whole Reading Story

Amy Pedigo 
Homeschool.com's Reading Advisor

In the fall of 2001, a Homeschool.com survey revealed that only 25% of homeschool parents think their children read at a level that matches their full potential. That same survey discloses that 77% of homeschool parents want to learn more about the theory and practice of reading instruction. In an effort to meet that thirst for knowledge, this article strives to give you an overview of a complex yet often oversimplified subject; reading.

For efficient readers, reading can be deceivingly effortless, and rightfully so. A reading teacher's goal it to make the reading process so fluid and automatic for a student that they hardly realized it's happening. Adults who may have been reading for decades, may hardly notice their continual utilization of reading tactics. In fact, reading is an unbelievably complicated and sometimes indistinct procedure. It brings together several different learning processes like no other daily task in our lives. Understanding all there is to know about reading can feel like an impossible task. Linguists, reading specialists and speech pathologists spend their entire careers studying the details of language-based activities like reading, writing and speaking. After many years in the reading profession, I still learn new reading concepts, facts and ideas on a regular basis. Though reading is a multifaceted process, for a fundamental understanding, it can be broken down into three basic parts. Keep in mind that all of these parts work together, overlapping and entwining to create a balanced reader.

1) In the beginning, before reading instruction has begun, most children begin to learn about sounds. As they begin to speak they begin to develop phonemic awareness, the ability to distinguish sounds within words. This ability to discriminate between one sound and the next leads to proper pronunciation. Later on it allows them to sound-out words, a crucial skill for beginning readers. All readers are presented with words that are unfamiliar and must be sounded-out. When a child is first beginning to read, this is happening frequently. As a child progresses through the years, fewer and fewer words are unfamiliar. An average adult reader may encounter an unfamiliar word that needs to be sounded-out less than one percent of the time.

2) English is made up of many words that are often called "sight words" or "non-decodable words." These are words that cannot be sounded out and must be memorized. A reader must learn them by rote and will become more familiar with them with more exposure. The longer a student is exposed to reading, the larger their compilation of memorized words becomes. However, even words that can be sounded-out sometimes called "decodable" words become memorized words over time.

3) The sole purpose that we read is to absorb language. We read for entertainment, information, communication and several other reasons. Therefore, not only do readers need to sound out words and recognize known words, they must understand the meaning of the individual words that they read and the overall concept of the passage. All these things must be done in concert as a person reads. Understanding what you read as you read it is also an essential check to sounding out and recognizing known words. A good reader will use the meaning of the story to make sure they are sounding out words correctly as well as the word structure of a sentence. If a reader is struggling to sound out words or word recognition, comprehension will suffer.

I hope this tiny introduction to the vast world of reading has opened your mind to a greater understanding of reading instruction. To delve deeper into the subject please try the complimentary e-seminar being offered to homeschool parents by Let's Go Learn, Inc. on Homeschool.com at: http://www.homeschool.com/LetsGoLearn/eSeminars