Pre-School Readers

We at Linguist Learning believe that very young children can be taught to read and write.

We also believe that this teaching can and should be done in a fun, enjoyable way.

To that end, we are offering regular small Pre-School Reader classes for children aged four to six who haven’t started school yet.

The program consists of bi-weekly sessions, running for 45 minutes for up to five children over a course of six weeks.

There are three streams: Seeds, Sprouts and Beanstalks. Children graduate through each stream until they reach their desired level.

The emphasis is on fun during these sessions, so if your child, for whatever reason, wants to discontinue their lessons, this is no problem at all.

The Levels

Level 1: The Seeds

The seeds are given pre-reading skills, including intensive teaching of the sounds the different letters make. They are also taught to recognise by sight many small common words.

While the seeds are taught letters, they are also taught blending skills by saying a variety of simple words slowly and then quickly.

Level 2: The Sprouts

The sprouts are taught the simplest form of word reading using rhyming and sequencing. They practise reading simple sentences for meaning.

Level Three: The Beanstalks

In addition to consolidation of the above skills The Beanstalks also practise sound and word writing and higher order comprehension skills.

A graduate Beanstalk is a child who can read simple children’s books and whose reading skills, even unaided, will continue to improve.

All this can be achieved before a child enters school.

What if There's a Problem?

The art of reading and writing was developed to cater for the majority of children, that is, those whose left brain hemisphere is somewhat dominant. There are, however, children whose right hemisphere is dominant and it is this difference, among other things that can lead to reading difficulties.

Some children get all the way through primary school without having reading problems identified and/or remediated.

Our classes are designed to teach reading to all children, but those who may have trouble get the advantage of early recognition and intervention. The earlier these difficulties are spotted, the easier it is to overcome them.

Is This For My Child?

Controversy continues to rage over the advantages of early literacy. People become quite emotional on the subject.

I have seen research showing that early literacy is advantageous. I have also seen research saying that it makes no difference.

It’s interesting to note though, that I have seen no research whatsoever saying that early literacy is a disadvantage.

Whatever studies have been done in education it is often all too easy to cite some research study that supports a particular point of view.

Instead, I ask you this: put yourself in your child’s shoes; if you were them, would you like to start school already reading? If the answer is yes, then these classes might be the right thing to do.

If the answer is no, then that’s fine.

Personally, I loved the fact that I could already read when I entered school. My children too enjoy treading the path their early learning has laid out for them.

SBI!