Learn to Read
the Wholesome Way
Keen-to-Read Books
Activities that will encourage your child to
be an early reader.
(Published in The Weekend Sun Friday 20 November, 2009)
By Carol Stovold, Managing Director, Quality Kidz
Proactive parents can assist their children at a very young age to set the stage for early reading and lifelong success at school. A child who feels successful has confidence, and as we all know, one who struggles with failure may develop poor coping skills and low self-esteem. Don’t wait until your child is formally enrolled at school to start thinking about literacy. Start now.
There are 10 very simple things parents can do with their toddlers that will ensure early reading success – here’s the first 5.
1. Read to each child in your house individually on a set schedule every day.
Let each child pick their own book. While you are reading with one child the others are following along, looking at the pictures in their own book, or playing quietly and observing. Let the child lead you where they want to go as far as their interests and abilities allow. For example, some children want to focus only on the pictures, and that is okay. You want them to enjoy books. Just be patient and it will happen over time.
2. Get a Library Card for each of your kids.
This is essential for their enthusiasm and independence. Most libraries will assign cards for children as young as two. Set aside one day out of the week, maybe bi-weekly, or even monthly if that is all you have the time for - and turn them loose at the library. It is a playground of information at their disposal, and this comes in handy especially when a child develops a particular interest in a topic.
3. Play pretend while you read.
This is key to getting their attention and interest, and is very important for young toddlers acquiring language skills. If you are reading the story of Little Red Riding Hood you need to become little Red Riding Hood. Let your child be the wolf that chases her. Go ahead and get up off the chair and get crazy for a minute. It is all a part of reading. By using expressions while you read and asking your children to act out the stories, you are creating a desire and focus that will foster positive attitudes for years to come.
4. Always point to words that you read aloud.
Make this a habit, even if your child doesn’t seem to be paying attention. This is teaching your child that letters make words and words are used in sentences. It creates meaning that goes so much further than pictures do. If your child likes a word because it sounds or looks interesting, go ahead and repeat, spell, and sound-out the word (even if it is irregular). This will help your child to understand that letters have sounds and meanings. Don’t spend too much time trying to make sure your child ‘gets it’ and understands or retains the particular word that has caught his attention. At this point it doesn’t matter. You are just planting seeds. The key is to keep your child’s interest and attention, so you want to be moving at a light and lively pace. Keep it simple, and above all, keep it fun.
5. Ask open-ended questions.
"Why do you think the lion is going into the woods? What do you think will happen next?" This encourages your child to think about the story and to ask questions. This predicting of future events encourages their imagination and increases their vocabulary at the same time.
Next week – Five more activities to encourage your child to be an early reader
By Carol Stovold, Managing Director, Quality Kidz
More activities that will encourage your child to
be an early reader.
(Published in The Weekend Sun Friday 27 November, 2009)
By Carol Stovold, Managing Director, Quality Kidz
Last week we covered the first 5 simple things you can do to encourage your child to be an early reader. Just in case you missed the article, in brief, these were:
(1) Read to each child in your house individually on a set schedule every day.
(2) Get a Library Card for each of your kids.
(3) Play pretend while you read so you bring the stories to life.
(4) Always point to words that you read aloud.
(5) Ask open-ended questions to encourage their imagination and increase their vocabulary at the same time.
Now here’s the other 5 very simple things parents can do with their toddlers that will ensure early reading success and ensure you don’t wait until school to start thinking about literacy:
1. Point out letters, numbers, and words on everyday things.
This is an important step toward teaching your child that words are important tools for getting information. So the next time your child asks for milk, show him the container and point to the word. Talk about it together, pronounce the letters, then very slowly sound them out. From a very young age toddlers recognise the golden M arches of McDonalds why not other letters in your community?
2. Join an organized toddler time reading group at the library.
You can start with your public library. Many of them offer story time and various other emerging literacy programs for toddlers and young preschool aged children. Music and movement playgroups also offer a wide variety of programs that provide exposure to essential pre-reading concepts.
3. Read for your own enjoyment.
Set aside time during the day when your kids can see you reading for your own pleasure. They will naturally want to know what you are reading, and may even pretend to read right along with you.
4. Find and utilize good educational websites with your child.
There are a number of great websites for preschoolers which offer phonics, typing skills and letter recognition. Learning with educational interactive websites is another way of engaging children in reading when they simply don’t like to sit down with books.
5. Finally, sing as you go about the day.
Music is a powerful tool for building literacy. So use music to get your kids thinking about words, the rhythm of sounds, rhyming, and enunciation. Studies have shown that songs can help children remember important letter-to-sound relationships, phonics rules, spelling patterns, and will increase their vocabulary.
By Carol Stovold, Managing Director, Quality Kidz
We have gained permission from Carol Stovold of Quality Kidz to include these articles on our web site.
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