The program pathway to reading refers to the various stages and steps that children typically progress through during their literacy development. While the specific details may vary, here is a general outline of the pathway:
1. Pre-Reading:
- This stage focuses on developing foundational skills necessary for reading. It includes activities such as building phonological awareness (recognizing sounds in spoken language) and developing vocabulary and comprehension through exposure to language.
2. Letter Recognition:
- Children learn to identify and name individual letters of the alphabet. This stage is often accompanied by activities like alphabet games, letter tracing, and letter-sound correspondence exercises.
3. Phonics:
- Phonics instruction teaches the relationship between letters and sounds. Children learn to blend letter sounds together to read words. This involves activities like phoneme segmentation, decoding, and word-building exercises.
4. Word Recognition:
- At this stage, children expand their sight word vocabulary and start recognizing and reading common words quickly and fluently. They also learn strategies for decoding unfamiliar words using context clues and word patterns.
5. Fluency:
- Fluency involves reading with accuracy, speed, and prosody (expression). Children practice reading aloud, engaging in repeated reading exercises, and focusing on phrasing and intonation.
6. Comprehension:
- This stage emphasizes understanding and interpreting the meaning of the text. Children learn to make connections, infer information, summarize, and engage in higher-level thinking skills while reading.
7. Reading Independence:
- In this final stage, children are able to read independently, comprehend complex texts, and apply critical thinking skills to analyze and evaluate what they read. They continue to develop their vocabulary and engage in various genres of reading materials.
It's important to note that reading development is a continuous and individualized process, and children progress through these stages at their own pace.
