Most children can name 10 letters by the time they’re five. Now, a new study shows that a proportion of Australian kids don’t have the skills they need to learn to read, setting them behind before they even enter primary school. Why is this and what can be done?
Around one in three (36%) Australian children grow up in families experiencing adversity. These include families where parents are unemployed, in financial stress, have relationship difficulties or experience poor mental or physical health.
A recent study found one in four Australian children experiencing adversity had language difficulties and around one in two had pre-reading difficulties.
Language difficulties can include having a limited vocabulary, struggling to make sentences and finding it hard to understand what is being said. Pre-reading difficulties can include struggling to recognise alphabet letters and difficulties identifying sounds that make up words.
You can read the full article from The Conversation here
It was written by Sharon Goldfeld Director at Center for Community Child Health Royal Children’s Hospital, Hannah Bryson Postdoctoral Researcher at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and Jodie Smith Research Fellow at La Trobe University.
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