Is your Child Reading or Memorizing?

Recently a mother sent me a video of her daughter reading a word, there was something in the video that was a reading red flag.

She was reading the word cow and the while sounding the word out she said the letter sounds for "c" "o" "w" and then said the word "Cow"

The problem is that I can tell that the child has actually memorized the word and is not reading it because of her lack of phonic knowledge to be able to decode that word correctly.

Seeing children memorize words that can be read with simple phonic instructions can be a red flag. So why is it a problem for children to memorize words? and how can you evaluate whether your child is actually reading?

1️⃣ The science of reading recommends teaching phonics so the child learns the rules of the language and is able to decode or read any word they come upon without memorization. Think about how much longer it would take a child to read if they had to memorize every word in the language!

2️⃣ It masks the child’s true reading skill level. Those proud  parents sending me the video of their children “reading” had no clue that their child wasn’t blending the letters together to read. This can lead to later reading intervention or accidentally encouraging the  children to continue the habit of memorization or guessing which is not a good reading habit!

Note: there are a some words that do require memorization because they don’t follow phonic rules! I call these tricky words. But even then, it’s a small select words that can’t be decoded. Also it is possible the child knows the correct phonic rules and has read the word enough that it has become a sight word but that generally doesn't happen at the beginning stages of reading. 

👉🏼How to test whether your child is reading or memorizing words:

✨Have them read nonsense words. They have to use letter knowledge to sound out the word to read what it says. You can tell them that these are silly words that don’t mean anything so your child isn’t frustrated trying to guess what the word is.

Word ideas:

-ap

-ed

-ix

-ol

-uz

-pog

-tac

-ret

-dub

-sif

If your child is having a hard time blending the letter sounds together properly then it might be good to backtrack to practicing letter sounds and blending activities to ensure your child has a strong foundation for reading!

In The Montessori Reading Academy I teach parents step-by-step instructions on how to teach their child to read at home in less than 10 minutes a day with fun games!

To learn more about the course and get a limited time 25% off discount Click Here