Posts Tagged ‘reading’

Read to Me!

Sunday, January 31st, 2010

Some reading tips from The Goddard School.  It is generally agreed among educators that one of the best things adults can do for their children is to read to them.

Parent Tips:

  • During early infancy, reading helps babies build neural pathways that will eventually provide language development and acquisition.
  • Reading aloud to children encourages association with happiness, love and enjoyment. All of this can lead to children’s greater interest in reading and can result in larger vocabularies and better literary skills.
  • Choose a childcare environment that encourages storytime as an important aspect of the school’s routine.
  • Reading aloud to children also helps them with pronunciation and phonetics. Some children are able to recognize letters and numbers before they can speak, but if they are left to this without guidance their weaknesses can lie in pronunciation and sounding out words.
  • When children speak incorrectly they should be gently corrected so that they are encouraged to use proper grammar and pronunciation. Reading books can help children learn the proper format of sentences which they often mistake in late toddlerhood.
  • Children who are read to regularly, are more likely to continue reading throughout their lives.
  • Children who read are more likely to have better writing skills and be placed in higher level classes.
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Focusing on Reading Readiness for Children

Monday, August 10th, 2009

Many parents look forward to announcing that their child can read, but the truth is children are reading long before they can interpret the pages of the book. As with most things in life, reading requires the proper building blocks before it can begin.

Reading begins with language and how it relates to your child’s world. Creating a language-rich environment will help your child’s vocabulary grow. Language develops with every interaction you have with your child – infants begin by reading their parents’ facial expressions while older children develop their vocabulary by listening and eventually repeating what their parent say. Verbalize your child’s world and he or she will begin to repeat sounds and syllables – be sure to pause, speak and alter conversation style.

A print-rich environment may also help prepare your child for reading by making the connection between your child’s world and the symbols we use to communicate, so make your home an active learning environment. Start labeling household items with pictures and words so your child will learn to associate everyday items with their symbols. Lead by example and let your child see you read often. Teach your child to respect books – while pages will rip and bindings will break; your child will learn that you value books and their content if you set a high expectation for their care.

Remember, it takes many interactions with the alphabet and phonemic awareness for reading skills to develop. While it may be difficult to remain patient, be assured that reading will happen when your child is ready.

The following are easy-to-follow steps for your child when it comes to reading:

Infant to One Year
1.Play appropriate music; it leads to acute sound discrimination used later in letter sound discrimination.
2. Read simple board books with one picture per page, contrasting colors or simple pictures, and point to the items on each page.
3. While reading to your child, make faces – it’s fun and your child will notice subtle differences.
4. Offer choices and name options. Watch your child’s eyes and hands for favorites.
5. Allow your child to point and turn book pages.
6. Describe everything; name colors, shapes and sizes.
7. Verbalize and describe your child’s actions (e.g., “That’s the blue ball. Uh-oh, it rolled away. I’ll roll it back to you. You caught it.”)

More literacy tips to follow on children one years and up!

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