Let’s READ!

THE Ministry of Health has included a taxonomy of reading literacy in Jamaica’s Child Health and Development Passport, to help parents understand the reading level their children should have reached.

If the child is not exhibiting all the reading characteristics listed in their age group, parents are encouraged to discuss the situation with the children’s teachers.

How is your child doing? Tick off on the list what applies.

Level one — Emergent reading (three to five years)

•Pretends to tell stories from pictures.

•Recognises letters in his or her name.

•Recognises that letters are different from numbers.

•Recognises that words are made of letters and letters of names and sounds.

•Recognises that print is read from top to bottom and left to right.

•Recognises that a book has a front and back cover.

Level two — Developmental reading (six to seven years)

•Reads and understands approximately 600 words.

•Reads monosyllabic words and simple sentences, observing punctuation.

•Follows simple written instructions.

•Answers questions about stories and reads aloud.

•Knows the difference between capital and common letters.

•Writes short sentences with spaces between words and uses punctuations.

Level three — Independent reading (eight to nine years)

•Reads and understands about 3,000 words.

•Reads simple, familiar stories with fluency.

•Figures out new words with two or more syllables using roots, prefixes and suffixes.

•Makes inferences and understands meanings not directly stated.

•Writes about experiences using paragraphs and correct punctuations.

•Engages in independent reading and writing.

Help your baby learn

•Let your child see you reading.

•Play with your baby, for example, games like Peekaboo.

•Talk and sing to your baby.

•Show your baby books and read to them from birth.

•Praise your child’s achievements. This will help them develop confidence.