Reading: Enhanced Language Arts Curriculum
What is the best way to teach children how to read?
- We investigated current research.
- We consulted Kindergarten teachers in Canyons School District.
- We consulted reading specialists at Utah charter schools.
Because we understand and adhere to Developmentally Appropriate Practices for preschoolers, we developed an enhanced preschool reading readiness program that is compatible and complementary to those recommendations and is age-appropriate for preschoolers. Newcastle Preschool has a multi-sensory, structured language arts program where students learn to Love to read. Newcastle prepares children to read with structured, multi-sensory instruction. Children learn through visual (what we see), auditory (what we hear) and kinesthetic (what we feel). The instruction is progressive, with children learning letters and sounds through music, games and hands-on, individual and group activities. As children learn the letters and sounds, they begin combining and blending letters into words. Students then progress to leveled, decodable beginning readers and they begin learning to read. But language arts doesn’t end there. From the time three-year-olds arrive at Newcastle, they are immersed in a print-rich environment which teaches them that written words stand for spoken thoughts. Stories, songs, finger plays and dramatizations engage children, teaching them that reading is imaginative and fun. This systematic approach gives children the strongest possible foundation for learning to read. Newcastle’s age appropriate beginning reading program has been developed in accordance with the protocols and standards published by the Utah State Office of Education, Canyon’s School District, National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the International Reading Association. Resources on teaching children to read:
- Reading 101: What You Should Know About Learning to Read
- Canyons School District: What Your Child Should Know Before Kindergarten
- NAEYC Position Statement: Learning to Read and Write
- International Reading Association: Literacy Development in the Preschool Years
- U.S. Dept. Of Education: Reading Developmental Milestones
- Faster Isn’t Better
- How Children Learn to Read
- When Do Most Preschoolers learn to Read
- Music Helps Build Preschool Reading Skills
- Montessori For Everyone: How Do Children Learn To Read?