“ Reading is the gateway for children that makes all other learning possible.” – Barack Obama
“When did you start reading?
What was the name of your first book?
Do you read to your children?
Before you begin reading I’d like you to answer these three questions. While some children start reading early from the age of four, like many other children I started reading between the age of six or seven when I began my school career at Bellavista and although I don’t remember the name of the book “The Adventures of Dick and Jane” would be a good guess . By the time I started au pairing they had been replaced by Ben the Dog and his farmyard friends and when I began teaching at Omatas the children were taught to read through the adventures of Biff, Chip and Kipper.
These readers with their colourful illustrations which help to tell the story, a fun element and a text which becomes more exciting as they move through the six stages have helped millions of children to read , and as the children in my class moved from “stepping stone to stepping stone” with their reading skills and confidence growing along with the number of sticky stars on their reading chart they looked forward to the day when they would be able to begin choosing storybooks from our library.
“Everyone is a reader …. Some just haven’t found their favourite book yet .”
Unlike talking and listening and the motor skills to walk and run, reading which is a complex man–made skill doesn’t develop naturally. While some children through practice progressed from the early readers to library books and looked forward to sharing their stories with their friends at story-time, for others especially those children with ADHD and dyslexia learning to read was a struggle and class reading time and homework reading lead to tears of frustration.
To become a strong and fluent a child needs to read books that are at their level, and with a variety of books in the library ranging from traditional fairy stories to space adventures, and some much loved and still popular Dr Seuss’s and Enid Blyton adventures there were plenty of books to choose from. Like Goldilocks tasting the porridge and trying out the furniture, to help a child to get better at and to learn to enjoy reading it is important to find books that are “ just right”. A quick and easy way to check whether a book is at the right level for a child read on their own is the five – finger vocabulary check. To do the five finger test ask your child to hold up five fingers and to read one page of a book. Each time your child doesn’t know a word ask them to put a finger down. At the end of the page :
If four or five fingers are still up the book is far too easy.
If three are up the book is a good choice which will provide a reasonable challenge and will help to build their vocabulary by allowing them to learn new words.
If one or two fingers are up the book may be too difficult for them to read on their own , but if they are up for a challenge and an adult is on hand to help give it a go.
If all five fingers are down it’s most probably a bit too advanced
To help our struggling readers, instead of having them wait until they had achieved the goal of completing all the class readers I encouraged them to also take home a library book which they could paired read with mom or dad.
“Children should learn that reading is pleasure, not just something that teachers make you do in school.” – Beverly Cleary
Reading aloud to children is an important process in learning to read. While many parents start reading to their children from a young age, once the children go to school and begin reading on their own bedtime stories become a fond memory. Although after a busy day it is tempting to swap story time for tv time, all children whether they are struggling or confident readers will benefit from a bedtime story read out loud and having them cuddled up close to you will relieve will help you to relax and develop a special bond between you.
Five wonderful benefits of bedtime reading
Being a reading model for your children and creating a reader – friendly home will inspire them to read for pleasure . Cultivating a lifelong love of reading.
Reading an adventure or mystery story which interests your child but is above their reading level will help to expand their attention span and encourage strong listening skills which will help with reading comprehension.
It will promote and enhance your child’s cognitive skills . The words on the page are only part of the experience, and chatting about the story will provide you with a fascinating insight into your child’s thinking skills.
Exposing your child to new interesting and unfamiliar words will enrich their language and vocabulary.
Books which take your children on adventures to new worlds , both real and imagined, and encourage guesswork and decision – making will spark their imagination and improve their creative thinking skills.
For help with teaching your child to read and to experience the benefit of reading out loud WhatsApp 0609101851