Literacy Archives - Reading Therapy & Literacy Support

Mathematics Literacy Practice

6 May 202120 May 2021 Lianne Bantjes

Literacy levels are the focus of the first three years of a child’s school life. The rest of their education hinges on the strength of the foundation created during this time.

Foundation Phase Literacy

As discussed in my article ‘What is Literacy?’, there are many different types of literacy. In the foundation phase the main focus is on LANGUAGE literacy and NUMERACY (also known as MATH literacy). By the end of Grade 3, children need to have a solid foundation in both of these literacies in order to cope effectively in the inter-sen or senior phase. When a solid foundation has not been laid, teachers often see a dramatic drop in marks from Grade 4 onwards.

Children who were doing very well in math in grade 1-3 might see a dip in marks in grade 4-5 because of their inability to read effectively. There is a link between language literacy and a child’s math marks later in school. As children move up through the grades, Math becomes more and more language based. To complete story sums and exam questions, children need to be able to read accurately, quickly and must understand what is being asked of them in order to answer the questions correctly.

Lockdown goodness

Despite how difficult the last year or so has been, many great things came out of lockdown and one of them is the fact that I came across the Play! Math website. I immediately ordered two Play! Math bundles for my nephews. I was astounded when delivery took place the following day. I love quick and efficient service and theirs is impeccable. They follow up swiftly with queries and seem very proactive and professional. As promised, the material I ordered was solid, old fashioned, perfectly laid out practice material, free of fancy fluff and bubble window dressing to make it look good.

Play!Math

Play! Math is owned and run by Anna Bezuidenhout who is the founder, author and content developer of their materials. I’ve never met Anna but it is evident that she is passionate about what she is doing. Her company provides CAPS aligned math worksheets, assessments, quizzes and exams papers for grades 1-7. Her goal is to “reach and assist as many learners across South Africa as possible”.

Content

The bundles per grade consist of the following:

Learner book & Answer book
Printable Assessments & Memo
Printable Exams & Memo
Printabe Timestables sheets
Free shipping

For a preview of their materials CLICK HERE.

Cost

Her prices are very affordable at the ridiculous low rate of R280 per bundle. Materials are grade specific and come in English or Afrikaans. Her product bundles are perfect for extra support for the home-schooling community as well as children in mainstream schooling. In fact these bundles are aimed at any parent that would like to give their child more opportunity to practice math in order to hone their skills and further develop their math literacy.

Conclusion

Play!Math has provided South Africa with a Math practice product that is comprehensive, simple to use and value for money.

Links

Play!Math

Additional Reading

Number Sense
https://mathsnoproblem.com/blog/teaching-practice/number-sense/

What is number sense
https://www.understood.org/en/learning-thinking-differences/child-learning-disabilities/math-issues/number-sense-what-you-need-to-know

Why is numeracy so important?
https://www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk/about/what-numeracy/why-numeracy-important

Why you can’t skip reading to your child for 20 minutes per day
https://lbliteracy.co.za/why-you-cant-skip-reading-to-your-child-for-20-minutes-per-day/

What is Literacy?
https://lbliteracy.co.za/what-is-literacy/

To explore working with Lianne in Randburg / Sandton and other areas in Johannesburg, contact her for a consultation to discuss how she can assist you.

Articles, Literacy, Reading

The Benefits of Reading Aloud to Tweens and Teens

19 April 202120 May 2021 Lianne Bantjes

There is much research supporting the idea that there is great benefit in reading aloud to your teenagers. For some reason, parents still seem to think that this is something you need only do with younger children. The benefits listed below may change your mind, especially if your child is not yet an avid reader.

Reading aloud to teens has the following benefits:

Positive modeling of word pronunciation
Modeling the usage of tone, intonation and expression
Builds vocabulary
Improves comprehension skills
Improves listening skills
It is bonding time
It helps with discussions around difficult issues
It sparks curiosity
It contributes to a thirst for learning
It is a way to work through the classics with older kids & introduce different genres
It is enjoyable and relaxing for both parent and child

If more parents read aloud to their children there would be less need for services such as reading therapy and literacy / language support.

How to Identify Reading Difficulties

2 August 202015 February 2022 Lianne Bantjes

The signs listed below can be informative for parents who want to stay on top of their child’s reading and literacy development, as well as for those parents who suspect that there may be reasons for concern. This list will give you an idea of what to look for or to take note of.

Does your child…

have difficulty recognizing rhyming words?
struggle to identify words that start with the same sound?
struggle with associations between letters and their sounds?
still confuse vowel sounds?
have difficulty manipulating the sounds in words?
guess words based on the first letter rather than sounding them out?
leave out/skip words in a sentence?
add words that are not there?
struggle to recognize repeated words, sounding out the same words repeatedly?
constantly reread words or parts of a sentence even when they are familiar with the words or have read them correctly?
occasionally read words in reverse? E.g. ‘saw’ is read as ‘was’
make visual errors where they confuse letters such as b, d, v, w, f, t, m, u and n?
leave off the endings of some words? E.g. ‘games’ becomes ‘game’
add endings that are not there? E.g. ‘play’ becomes ‘playing’
struggle to segment the sounds in words? (Segment means to break words up into sounds = spelling)
struggle to blend the sounds in words? (Blending means to push the sounds together to form words = reading)
make no attempt to self-correct?
show signs of resisting or avoiding reading activities?
read excruciatingly slowly, one word at a time, sounding out each and every word to the point that all meaning in the sentence is lost?
read words in isolation with inappropriately long pauses between each word in a sentence?
making advanced phonic errors because they do not know the language code? E.g. Reads

The good news

The good news is that there is no need to panic if your child is showing signs of difficulty in learning to read. Most children can overcome any difficulties they experience with relative ease, especially if caught early on. With the right intervention – in the form of direct, systematic, explicit instruction – your child can be reading at grade level in a relatively short period of time. Responding early to your concerns is key to making sure that there is minimal disruption to your child’s education.

Reading in the Foundation Phase

It is worthwhile keeping in mind that ‘learning to read’ is one of the most important learning outcome of the Foundation Phase. From Grade 4 onwards, children need to be able to ‘read to learn’. Reading is the foundation for all other mainstream education. Therefore, if intervention is required it should ideally take place during the Foundation Phase. If a child can read with ease, every other aspect of their education journey is going to be easier for them. Ideally, intervention should take place in grade 1.

Reading in the Intersen Phase and above

For those parents with older children who still struggle, you’ll be pleased to know that they can still be helped to overcome their reading challenges. Intervention may take more time and require more effort than it would with a younger child, but they can be helped. It can be life-changing for a young person who struggles daily. The intervention process may take longer because with older children the reading therapist would most likely be dealing with additional issues such as a lack of motivation, lack of self-confidence, feelings of inadequacy, insecurity and hopelessness.

There is a knock-on effect of falling behind in reading, which leads to academic delays in other subjects. Learners who find reading difficult and who avoid reading based activities have weaker vocabulary and comprehensions skills, as they are exposed to significantly less text and have less repeated exposure to words in a variety of contexts. They often end up with a language deficit in comparison to their peers. This young person would then have to catch up in reading and literacy as well as all their other subjects, making their academic burden that much greater.

Conclusion

As I stated earlier, it is always advisable to respond as early as possible to any signs of difficulty with learning to read. If your child is in grade 1, this is a good time to keep tabs on the development of their reading skills and if you have any doubts to put in place remedial intervention.

The plight of older children who can’t (yet) read fluently.

17 July 202020 May 2021 Lianne Bantjes

Is it ever too late to step in and help them learn to read?

Imagine how a 13 to 18 year old child feels at school if they are still unable to read fluently? Put yourself in their shoes and try to imagine how it must feel to have to go on with your academic schooling even though you do not have adequate knowledge and skills in place to cope? The one most important skill, reading, is one of your biggest daily challenges. You duck and dive to avoid doing it.

The minute the teacher starts calling on students to read aloud in class your anxiety skyrocket. You start to sweat. Your eyes water as your heart rate increases. You are so focused on your fear that you cannot listen to the lesson. You can only think about what would happen if the teacher calls your name. It is fear-inducing. It is distracting. It is debilitating. Each year gets harder and harder for you.

This person may feel…

humiliated
embarrassed
inadequate
stupid
frustrated
overwhelmed
shy
anxious
burdened
hopeless
resigned
excluded

These types of emotions are a burden. These are all very negative emotions and when felt continuously, on a daily basis for a prolonged period of time, they could have a damaging effect on a child’s sense of self-worth, their confidence levels, their dreams for the future as well as their sense of social standing. More importantly, it also makes it more difficult for a child to stay the course and remain in school until their final year.

It is never too late to learn to read

By the time a child reaches high school, it seems that everyone, including themselves, has given up on them ever being able to improve their reading skills or to catch up with their peers. They often get unfairly labeled as someone who can’t be helped. The beliefs behind giving up are …

it’s too late to learn to read in high school
he/she is slow / stupid / not the brightest
if he/she was capable of reading they would have learned to read already
if everyone else managed to learn to read why couldn’t they do the same
primary school is when you learn to read, not high school
there isn’t time to focus on developing reading skills now

In contrast to these beliefs, I believe that it is never too late to learn to read. I have taught several adults and teens to read or improve their reading and it has completely transformed their lives. Their image of themselves and their sense of place in this world transformed too. In the same way, improved reading fluency can change the trajectory of a child’s life.

Ensuring that a child is literate and fluent in reading is worth every moment of time spent teaching them and every cent spent in getting them there. It is an invaluable gift that can never be taken away from them. It opens doors, creates choice and possibility and completely changes the learner’s perspective.

How to help a teenager that cannot yet read at grade level?

Be sensitive to their self-consciousness around reading.
Be honest with them about what their inability to read means for their future.
Brainstorm ideas with them about how increased reading fluency can make life easier for them and open doors in the future.
Connect reading with their dreams, passions and interests to motivate them.
Find examples for them of role models who have dyslexia and have managed to overcome it (Baigelman, L.)
Stress the fact that, as their parent, you believe that with the right help they will be able to improve their reading fluency.
Knowing that someone sees potential in you is very powerful and motivating.
Hire a reading specialist/reading therapist whose work is based on the science of learning to read and who will focus on building their self-confidence.
Ensure that the lessons are one-to-one and not as part of a group.
Read aloud to your teen and ensure that this time is bonding time, relaxing and fun. There is evidence that reading aloud to teens has many benefits.
Never criticize their reading. This way they’ll know that you’re on their side.
Never give up on them – everyone can learn to read.