Parents need to be aware that many schools still give ‘whole language’ readers to children in pre-Primary to Year 2. Children with dyslexia cannot read the contents of these books as the readers are not at their phonic knowledge.
They have words in them that CANNOT be decoded, as they have not yet learnt the vowel digraphs, but the children soon learn (in fact, they are told by the teacher to, “Look at the picture and guess what the word might be!!!).
This is not acceptable given the knowledge we now have on how children should be taught to spell and read. An example of such a reader and the style of writing that you as parents should be looking for is below.
It is made up of repetitive and predictable language. As a parent I would refuse to take these readers home, and insist on your child being given a decodable reader. I would even challenge the school as to what phonic program is the school delivering in the Early years.
If the school does not have decodable readers, your local library does. Please contact Perth Speech Therapy if you would like any further advice as to what books you should choose for your child.
Do NOT leave it, the early years of school count the most.
