By Jay Davidson
I discovered this when I was a student teacher
thirty-one years ago, and it still works: kids love to
read the words of songs they sing.
By the time a child is five years old, he has memorized
the words of many songs. Use that to his advantage by
writing down the words and helping him to follow along
with them as he sings. Use your finger to point to each
word as it is sung.
When I was teaching junior high school English, I had a
tough group that usually couldn’t wait until the bell
rang at the end of the period. But on one particular
day, I had typed and copied the words of several
Creedence Clearwater Revival songs. When the bell rang,
they were singing and reading; they didn’t want to leave
until the song was over!
This is a springboard for your beginning reader. Take
the time to write down the words. If you are singing
with a CD, use the lyrics sheet that comes with it. Then
sing the song together.
Yes, at first your child is singing words that have been
memorized. It is true that there may be little or no
actual reading. In that respect, it looks like the Whole
Language approach to teaching reading.
But you can easily move it to a phonics approach and
have your child identify letters that make the sounds he
is singing.
Let’s say, for example, that you are singing “Mary Had a
Little Lamb.” Look at the title. Which word is Mary? How
do you know that? Most children will look at the first
letter of the word. It’s the only word that starts with
“m.” Make the sounds of the other letters in the word.
Explain that the “y” frequently makes the “ee” sound at
the end of words.
You don’t have to go over each word in this way, but you
will find that after a while, your child will have
shifted from singing words that are memorized to being
able to read the words in isolation.
This article has been incorporated and expanded in Teach
Your Children Well: A Teacher’s Advice for Parents. This
article is reprinted with the author's permission.
This article has been incorporated and
expanded in Teach
Your Children Well: A Teacher’s Advice for Parents.
This article is reprinted with the author's permission.
