The Five Essential Components of Reading

         
June 30, 2011.

Reading with children and helping them practice specific reading components can dramatically improve their ability to read. Scientific research shows that there are five essential components of reading that children must be taught in order to learn to read. Adults can help children learn to be good readers by systematically practicing these five components:

• Recognizing and using individual sounds to create words, or phonemic awareness. Children need to be taught to hear sounds in words and that words are made up of the smallest parts of sound, or phonemes.
• Understanding the relationships between written letters and spoken sounds, or phonics. Children need to be taught the sounds individual printed letters and groups of letters make. Knowing the relationships between letters and sounds helps children to recognize familiar words accurately and automatically, and "decode" new words.
• Developing the ability to read a text accurately and quickly, or reading fluency. Children must learn to read words rapidly and accurately in order to understand what is read. When fluent readers read silently, they recognize words automatically. When fluent readers read aloud, they read effortlessly and with expression. Readers who are weak in fluency read slowly, word by word, focusing on decoding words instead of comprehending meaning.
• Learning the meaning and pronunciation of words, or vocabulary development. Children need to actively build and expand their knowledge of written and spoken words, what they mean and how they are used.
• Acquiring strategies to understand, remember and communicate what is read, or reading comprehension strategies. Children need to be taught comprehension strategies, or the steps good readers use to make sure they understand text. Students who are in control of their own reading comprehension become purposeful, active readers.   ed.gov

Tips for Bedwetting Prevention

Bedwetting can damage the child's self-image and confidence. The best way to prevent this is to be supportive. Parents should reassure the child that bedwetting is a common problem and that they are confident that the child will overcome the problem.

Here are some tips to help your child cope with bedwetting:

• Focus on the problem: bedwetting. Avoid blaming or punishing your child. Remember, your child cannot control the bedwetting, and blaming and punishing just make the problem worse.
• Be patient and supportive. Reassure and encourage your child often. Do not make an issue out the bedwetting each time it happens.
• Enforce a "no teasing" rule in the family. No one is allowed to tease the child about the bedwetting, including those outside the immediate family. Do not discuss the bedwetting in front of other family members.
• Encourage responsibility. Help your child understand that the responsibility for being dry is his or hers and not that of the parents. Reassure your child that you want to help him or her overcome the problem. In addition, have your child help in the clean-up process.
• Make clean-up easy. To increase comfort and reduce damage, use washable absorbent sheets, waterproof bed covers, and room deodorizers.

Tips to Prevent Bedwetting

Along with supporting your child emotionally, there are a number of steps you can take that may help reduce the number of bedwetting accidents. Here are more tips.

• Reduce evening fluid intake. Do not give your child anything to drink in the 2 hours before bedtime.
• Have your child go to the bathroom before getting into bed.
• Set a goal for your child of getting up at night to use the toilet. Instead of focusing on making it through the night dry, help your child understand that it is more important to wake up every night to use the toilet.
• Make sure the child has easy access to the toilet. Clear the path from his or her bed to the toilet and install night-lights. Provide a portable toilet if necessary.
• Reward your child for remaining dry. A system of sticker charts and rewards works for some children. The child gets a sticker on the chart for every night of remaining dry. A certain number of stickers earn a reward.
• Consider using diapers or pull-ups at night. Some believe that you should avoid using diapers or pull-ups at home because they can interfere with the motivation to wake up and use the toilet. Others argue that pull-ups help the child feel more independent and confident. Talk to your child's doctor to determine what is best for your child.

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SOURCE: eMedicine Health.

Reviewed by Jonathan L Gelfand, MD on February 09, 2009

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