Fostering a love of stories in a child’s first years is key to lifelong reading

Children’s literacy rates are falling around the globe. In response, a number of governments, including New Zealand’s, are overhauling the way reading is taught in primary school.

One key change is a renewed focus on phonics (mapping sounds to letters).

But an overemphasis on phonics could dampen children’s motivation to read for enjoyment and understanding.

In my new book, I show how important it is to foster a love of books and stories in young children if they are to become lifelong readers.

The science of reading

Reading isn’t natural for humans. Instead, it is a recent skill in our evolutionary history.

Today, children’s lifelong academic and occupational success depends on becoming literate.

Learning to read in English is devilishly difficult. Many words that sound the same are spelled differently (team and teem, for example) and the same group of letters can be pronounced differently (dough versus through).

Most reading scientists and teachers agree direct instruction in letter-sound relationships (phonics) is necessary for children to become readers. Skilled reading also involves comprehending the meaning of words.

But because reading is difficult and requires practice, children must also want to put in the time and effort needed to become a fluent reader.

This motivation to read begins much earlier than the first day of school.

Reading instruction needs to connect with the ingrained human love of oral stories if it is to turn into a love of reading.

Growing a love of books

Children’s love of the sounds, melodies and emotions in stories is innate and has existed throughout human history. Hunter-gatherer tribes with a higher per capita rate of storytellers were more likely to thrive.

In my book, I drew on findings from Growing Up in New Zealand, Aotearoa’s largest longitudinal study of child health and wellbeing. I also included the latest data from Origins of Language and Memory of New Zealand children – the longest-running study in the world of children’s story development.

My findings highlight the critical role that families play in turning a love of oral stories into a love of books.

Although a love of stories starts in the womb, most parents wait until their babies are born to start reading books to them.

To successfully share a picture book with a baby, the adult needs to follow the infant’s gaze and react to what is on the page, then wait to let the baby take a turn – whether through a coo, a look or a smack of the book.

At this tender age, the goal is to establish a book-sharing routine and enjoy back-and-forth “stories” rather than to get through a whole book.

In the toddler years, stories begin to flow more fluidly. Toddlers who have experienced stories from books and conversations will initiate stories readily with an adult, either by talking about a recent event or by bringing their favourite book to read together.

If these conversations are responsive, both types of stories strengthen children’s language, literacy, and social and emotional development.

In the preschool years, children with consistent book-sharing and reminiscing routines will acquire advanced skills including abstract vocabulary, print concepts, awareness of the sounds of words and understanding of characters’ emotions and actions. They are also able to link stories from books to their own lives.

All these skills are critical for their later reading success.

Time to read

Even children with this solid foundation may find it challenging to learn to read in the first year of school.

The goal is to help them “crack the code” (mapping sounds to letters) as quickly as possible. Only then will a child be able to integrate their knowledge and love of stories with the sounds of words on a page.

For this leap to happen, a child must want to read on their own. Children with a rich story bank will be able to push past the difficulty of decoding to reading for understanding and enjoyment.

Phonics is a necessary step in the lifelong timescale of literacy development. Yet, according to reading expert Sebastian Suggate, early reading instruction with a child who doesn’t love stories or books is like sowing seeds on parched earth.

For children to become successful readers, we need to enrich the soil by instilling a love of stories and books in the first five years of life and beyond — long after the phonics work is finished.