Guest post: http:// www.readbrightly.com
Photo credit: JGI/Jamie Grill/Getty Images
Why Pre-Readers Should Get to Enjoy Books Independently (And How to Help Them Learn to Do It)
by Lindsay Barrett
After test-driving life in several major cities, Lindsay Barrett moved back to her small hometown by the ocean in Maine to work as a literacy consultant and freelance writer. She's constantly surprised that her pre-parenthood experience as a kindergarten teacher doesn't make her chaotic household of three — soon to be four — young children feel more manageable and she relies heavily on reading aloud just to get them to sit still. When not chasing little people, she writes literacy curriculum materials, resources, and digital content for educators and parents.
If your home is filled with books and invitations to enjoy them, by the time your child is a toddler, you’ll likely receive plenty of requests to “Read this to me!” There’s nothing better than snuggling up with a willing kiddo and a stack of appealing titles. It’s also a great feeling, though, to snuggle up with a book and enjoy it by yourself. Kids can and should have the opportunity to do this, beginning as soon as their chubby fingers allow.
Spending time alone with books as a pre-reader encourages practicing things like turning pages, noticing illustrations, making up a story from the pictures, or repeating words and phrases recalled from a read-aloud. Empowering young children to spend time independently looking at books positions reading as a source of worthy entertainment, whether or not an adult is available to read aloud. “Book-looking” is both stimulating and soothing in a way that screens can’t be. Plus, let’s not discount the fact that it’s much easier to cook dinner or fold laundry when the little people in the house can occupy themselves with books for a few minutes! My kids are definitely not reading prodigies. My 3-year-old still regularly holds books upside down — every time I try to correct him, he claims, “But this is the way I like to read it!” My kids are also the type others euphemistically refer to as “busy” or having “lots of energy.” Yet because we’ve made it a family expectation that everyone can “sit and look at some books,” mine all do it every day.
Some young children are naturally drawn to independent book-looking, but if you can’t imagine your child doing so, here are some ways to help.
1. Set up your space to encourage it. Kids gravitate to what’s readily accessible. A basket of books on the floor or a low shelf stocked with favorites lets even crawling babies grab the books they want to browse. My kids often plop down and look at books wherever it strikes them, but a dedicated cozy reading spot works well for many families, too.
2. Show kids how to do it. Kids need to know that reading every word of a book isn’t the only way to enjoy it. Say, “I think I’ll just tell the story from the pictures today” or “Let’s flip through and find all the trucks.” Many books naturally invite kids to join in. (For instance, mine have always loved the exclamations in Leslie Patricelli’s Quiet Loud and Yummy Yucky.) When kids are regular participants during read-aloud time, they have a sense of how they could “read” the same book on their own.
3. Keep your standards flexible. Young children are constantly collecting data about how things work, including books. Sure, it’s sweet when a kid sits quietly and pages through a pile of classics, but — at least in my house — this definitely isn’t the only way little ones investigate books. Flipping pages quickly, hunting for the junk food page in The Very Hungry Caterpillar, wearing books as hats, kissing all the cuddly creatures in Baby Touch and Feel: Animals, stuffing a bag with board books for a pretend “trip,” and lining up ten books on the floor to make a “train” are all early reading behaviors, too. Remind yourself this is what kids are supposed to do, and find something positive to say. “Wow, your hat has a caterpillar on it!”
4. Give lots of praise (but don’t get in the way). Naming and celebrating behaviors you want kids to repeat is always helpful. Whenever I overhear one of my kids trying to approximate the rhyming sound effects in Roadwork, saying good night to all the animals in Good Night, Gorilla, or opening and closing the flaps of Where’s Spot?, I make a big deal about their skills as a reader. Not necessarily right away, though! Choose when to deliver your praise wisely. If your kids are anything like mine, it’ll remind them you exist, and their lovely independent reading reverie will be over. Kids are more likely to explore books on their own when you appear unavailable. Go fold that laundry, or — better yet —pull out your own book. They’ve got this!
by Leslie Patricelli
by Sally Sutton, illustrated by Brian Lovelock
by Peggy Rathmann
by Eric Hill
###
Happy Saturday everyone! Hope your week went well and you have a nice relaxing weekend. Want to thank those generous hearts that are donating to my blog. It is very, very appreciated. I look forward to another week with you when I once again can present fine children's picture books for your family to enjoy. I am always astounded and in awe of the vast amount of writing talent and fabulous illustrator's artistry that I have the privilege to work with each and every day. Kudos to those who work so hard in the book industry. Please join me next week when I unwrap more incredible books for your little ones to relish. Take care until then and stay safe. 💜
Follow Storywraps
*Blog Link: www.babybookworms.blogspot.ca
*Instagram: Storywraps
*Email: storywrapsblog@gmail.com
*Facebook: www.facebook.com/Storywraps
*Twitter: Storywraps@Storywraps1
*Pinterest: Storywraps
I put hours of work finding the best kid's books to review for you each day. If you enjoy visiting Storywraps and would like to donate something for my time and effort I would greatly appreciate it.
Go to the top of my blog at the right hand corner (below my photo) and please donate what you feel lead to give. The amount you donate and the frequency you donate is totally up to you.
I also have added a new button... ko-fi.com/storywraps Simply buy me a cup of coffee if you would rather. That would be fun. Coffee and blogging go together like two peas in a pod as I'm always brewing up something here on Storywraps.
I thank you in advance for your support. I adore what I do and would appreciate any amount that you may give so that I can make our Storywraps' community more thriving and exciting. Thanks a million! Books bind us together.
No comments:
Post a Comment