Help children to read more effectively: Expand their cultural experiences of the world.
Teaching children to read fluently and with comprehension is a long, complex process that school heads and teachers need to understand. There are many factors that are involved in becoming proficient readers. One of the factors that influences children's reading proficiency is the extent of their world knowledge. The greater the children's experiences of the world around them, the better are their chances to comprehend books more effectively. Build children's cultural capital Let us focus on how children's limited background knowledge blocks them from developing their reading and comprehension skills. Children who come from poor homes, are often not exposed to a variety of experiences as children from middle class homes. Their world knowledge is generally restricted to the experiences in their neighborhoods. Teachers recognize these gaps, but they ascribe the children's lack of knowledge to laziness or an unwillingness to think. "I...