How we teach children to read
By John Hart, Director of Digital Learning & Innovation & Elina Kataja, Head of Teacher Training
Children don’t arrive at school as blank slates; they bring with them a wealth of knowledge and experiences – from previous schools, their families, friends, books, TV shows, and more. At FIS, we believe in meeting each child where they are, building on their unique foundation of skills and experiences. Our approach goes beyond standard grade-level objectives; we carefully assess each child’s current abilities and tailor our teaching to support their individual learning journey.
In our English language instruction, we utilise guided reading groups to foster each child’s development in phonics, reading, and writing. Rather than assuming all students at the same grade level start from the same place, we individually assess each child’s proficiency. Based on these assessments, we form small groups, enabling us to provide instruction that meets the specific needs of each group.
Junior and Senior KG, along with Grades 1 and 2, are divided into three small groups: Dingoes, Wolves, and Foxes (with three further subgroups). Grades 3-5 are similarly organised into two small groups. In every group, teaching is closely aligned with the students’ current skill levels. Our flexible grouping allows children to transition between groups as needed throughout the year, ensuring they receive the most appropriate level of instruction. Regular assessments keep our teaching responsive to each child’s growth and changing needs.
For example, in JR KG to G2 instruction, some children start with single sounds and the fundamentals of reading and writing, others begin with digraphs and strengthening their blending skills, while some focus on reading longer texts and further developing their writing abilities. Meanwhile, in Grades 3-5 the children are split into two groups and we concentrate on building reading comprehension skills and learning how to respond to texts at a level appropriate to each group.
We combine the 'pure' synthetic phonics approach with a whole language approach to get the best of both worlds from these schools of thought on how best to teach children to read. This balanced approach is backed by the latest research and ensures that our children are not just taught to 'robotically' read in the most efficient, systematic way but also to understand what they are reading and be able to engage with texts to develop a life-long love of books and reading.
By assessing what each individual child needs, differentiating instruction based on the assessment and then periodically reassessing and adjusting instruction, we are able to ensure that each child progresses as a reader. These developments are recorded and posted to Qridi, our digital solution for compiling assessment data, to ensure that parents are informed and up to date with their child's progress as it happens. This home-school partnership enables parents to see first-hand where their children are on their reading journey and assists in strengthening the important bond between the work that goes on both at home and in school, which is crucial to ensure that each child reaches their potential as a reader.
