...reading aloud to your child. I know, I know, I have said it before but it bares repeating because very few believe me. It seems so easy, there are no worksheets, no quizzes, no way to measure how smart your child is. And, let's face it, it's more impressive to say, We spell words every night, or My child has completed blah, blah phonics book, than to say, We just read every night. A friend of mine, a young mother, asked me what she could do to teach her three year old to read. I think this mother was a little surprised when I told her, just read to her, talk to her. This mother already does a fabulous job. Her daughter has a great vocabulary for a three year old.
Take time to read the article, Reading Aloud to Children of All Ages or at least skim it and print out the books lists. The article mentions several of the benefits but two particular benefits that lead to reading success are:
- Reading aloud gives children background knowledge, which helps them make sense of what they see, hear, and read. The more adults read aloud to children, the larger their vocabularies will grow and the more they will know about the world and their place in it.
- Reading aloud introduces the language of books, which differs from language heard in daily conversations, on television, and in movies. Book language is more descriptive and uses more formal grammatical structures. Book language can throw a child off when he/she starts reading.
In addition to the above benefits it is so much fun! Try it. It is easy to stop reading aloud once your child starts reading. Trust me, there are times you think, Thank goodness, he can read to himself! But your child can't read the books with the rich vocabulary. More than likely, the books he reads will be very easy, limited in print.
So don't stress over what all your friends are doing to get their child ready for reading and school.
Get a book, get your child, snuggle up on the couch and just read!
No comments:
Post a Comment