How do students learn to not only read material in textbooks and articles, but also truly understand what they read? In an article in the April 16, 2025 edition of Education Week, (https://ew.edweek.org/nxtbooks/epe/ew_04162025/) Kelly Cartwright, Professor of Early Child Literacy at the University of North Carolina, says there are several answers. One focuses on exposure.
Young students need to learn as much as possible about the world in order to have a context that helps them interpret what they read. With this broader context, students have a better chance of figuring out what an article is saying. Both parents and teachers are well equipped to offer children chances to learn about society, science and human behavior.
It’s important to note that kids are picking up on the conflicts in our society, even if we try to shield them from these troubles. A side benefit of learning about the world is that adults help children acknowledge these conflicts while they learn that adults don’t always understand them, either. But, by talking about them, parents and teachers show that it is possible to coexist with this discomfort.
Parents bringing their children to everything from movies to museums, cultural events to grocery stores, ball games to church services, allows youngsters to take in information about how the world works and how people behave. And the same goes for school field trips. The more students learn, the more their minds will be prepared to comprehend what they read, and therefore learn more.
