FOCUSING ON READING READINESS FOR CHILDREN
Many parents look forward to announcing that their child can read, but actually children are reading long before they can interpret the pages of the book. 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. Verbalize your child’ s world and he or she will begin to repeat sounds and syllables.
Remember, it takes many interactions with the alphabet and phonemic awareness for reading skills to develop. The following are some easy-to-follow steps for your child when it comes to reading:
Infant to One Year
• Play appropriate music; it leads to acute sound discrimination used later in letter sound discrimination.
• Read simple board books with one picture per page, contrasting colors or simple pictures, and point to the items on each page.
• While reading to your child, make faces – it’ s fun and your child will notice subtle differences.
• Describe everything; name colors, shapes and sizes.
• Verbalize and describe your child’ s actions.
First Steps( 12-18 months)
• Read longer stories to your child and allow him or her to interact with the book – pointing, turning pages or even turning the book upside-down.
• Name objects as your child points.
YOUR CHILD DESERVES THE BEST POSSIBLE START.
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• Sing and give characters of books funny voices.
• Talk about the stop light( e. g., red circles mean‘ stop,’ green circles mean‘ go’).
• Play with objects that are similar and point out the differences( e. g., cow versus horse).
• Speak to your child in a normal tone to demonstrate accurate sound recognition.
• Enunciate words of interest like M-M-Mommy.
• As syllables start to represent words, such as“ juice” and“ more,” expand upon them( e. g.,“ apple juice,”“ Would you like more apple juice?”).
Toddler & Get Set( 18-36 months)
• Read everything – signs, labels, toys and your child’ s name.
• Take cues from your child – interested, not interested, read or just look at the pictures, read more or stop before the end of the story?
• Find and point out shapes and symbols in your home or community.
• Recite rhymes and alliterations; pause to allow your child to fill in the last word or phrase.
Preschool( 36 months +)
• Read words and point to each one as you read it, moving your finger from left to right, top to bottom.
• While grocery shopping, ask your child to find an item that starts with a certain letter or find a particular cereal. Have these items on your grocery list for comparison.
• While in the park, ask your child to bring you nature items one at a time. Write the word for each item and then write a story with these words.
Pre-Kindergarten( 48 months +)
• Read with your child. Take turns reading pages, modeling intonation and punctuation cues.
• Play“ Going on a Hike.” Start by picking a letter and saying.“ I’ m going on a hike and in my back pack I have a …” Take turns repeating the sentence, naming the previously listed words and adding new word that starts with the chosen letter each time.
• Ask your child to get something in the pantry that he or she would not recognize by sight; provide the beginning letter sound of the item and ask him or her to search for it by reading the letters.
Finding a preschool / early childhood center that runs their program year round can be very beneficial for reading readiness and other developmental areas. The very best early childhood centers include developmental guidelines for each classroom and age level that include specific goals. The most ingenious preschool programs are integrating specialty enrichment resource programs, such as a second language, math, science, and music, into their curriculum. This seamless assimilation provides optimum learning opportunities for children in a convenient‘ all-in-one’ package.
This Industry Insight was written by Bob & Lori Santo.
Bob & Lori Santo are the owners of The Goddard School ®, located at 825 East McMurray Road in Peters Township and 655 Painters Run Road, Upper St. Clair, 412.564.3600. Goddard offers both full- and part-time infant / preschool / kindergarten programs. For more information, visit www. goddardschools. com or call 724.941.6464.
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