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How do I choose the right book to read to my child?
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Why
read aloud?
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What one misconception do adults have about preparing
young children for literacy?
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My son's speech is "off"
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My third grade daughter does not like to read.
Advice?
Simply stated, if you like the book, so will your child.
The biggest mistake parents make when choosing what to read, is to choose
books that are too simple. Although children may have a limited speaking
vocabulary, they have very sophisticated internal ones.
They enjoy humor, an interesting plot, and real-life characters. Don't
hesitate to choose a book for your child that has quality and depth. You
both deserve to enjoy good literature.
There are many purposes for reading aloud with your
child: See Reading With Your Child
- to instill a love of reading through a close and
loving experience.
- to create an appreciation of language, both oral and
written.
- to increase vocabulary.
- to develop pre-reading skills ( left-to-right
progression, top to bottom, title, author, ...)
However, the most important reason is to simply enjoy
each other's company - time in a shared experience, bonding over bears,
balloons, and other mysteries of life.
Many adults talk down to young children, using simple
words and exaggerated tones. They talk slowly and imply that the child is
not capable of understanding. This is a disservice to both adults and
children.
Young children absorb vocabulary at an astounding
rate. Although they may not be developmentally able to access the words
quite yet, they are stockpiling them for later retrieval.
In fact, in a study released in 2003
and published by The American Federation of Teachers, researchers
reported that in order to set the stage for vocabulary development, a
child must absorb rich, home-related language experiences by the age of
3.
Therefore, when
talking with a young child, use a normal conversational tone. Use the
words you would use when speaking to an older child or an adult.
You will know when you need to clarify a term or define a word.
My son is 2 years old and since birth we have been
fighting chronic ear problems. Now that we have remedied all of the
problems, I have noticed that his speech is off ...
At the
age of 2, your son is just beginning to sort through language patterns and
sounds. There are still many consonant sounds that he is not yet able to
produce or reproduce. In fact, between now and the age of 8, your son
will be working to develop/articulate many
speech sounds. Below is a suggested summary of the consonant sounds he
will be working on at each age:
- 18 months to 3 years: p,m,h,n,w,b
- 2 years to 4 years: b,k,g,d,t,ng ( some children do
not acquire the t and ng sounds until age 6)
- 2 1/2 years to 4 years: f,y
- 3 years to 6 years: r,l,s (some children do not
acquire the s sound until age 8)
- 3 1/2 to 7 or 8 years: ch,sh,z
- 4 to 7 or 8 years: j,v
- Source: Speech,
Language, & Hearing Disorders by Oyer, Crowe, and Haas. College-Hill
Press, 1987.
My third
grade daughter does not like to read. Advice?
This is a common problem for children
her age since much of the curriculum, social studies, math, and science,
require students to be a very capable readers.
Her dislike of reading could be coming from any number of circumstances,
but most likely it is simply because reading has become a negative
experience. And we all try to avoid unpleasant experiences. Perhaps she
was asked to read aloud and when she made a mistake, other children made
comments. If a teacher is not sensitive to different readers' abilities,
this often occurs and results in young readers who have been embarrassed
and lost confidence.
You have the wonderful opportunity to build up her confidence and love of
reading. Visit your library and have her select the maximum number of
books to read. Any kind. Any age level - even easy picture books. Let her
choose. And let her check them out using her library card. This will help
her develop a sense of ownership about reading.
Then you use your library card to
choose books that you would like to read to her. Be sure that you will
enjoy each book and be interested in the story line. It may be a mystery
book where you read a chapter a night, or a biography about someone you
admire, or a book of short stories where you would read a complete story
in one sitting, or a comedy in which you can both laugh ...
The important thing is to make sure
that this quality time is special to your daughter. Make the routine
special - include an overstuffed chair ... something that will imprint on
her memory that reading is a pleasant experience and the most wonderful
part of her daily life. Every night. Just the two of you. Twenty or thirty
minutes when she can listen to your voice and learn to appreciate the
sound of beautiful language.
Once her enthusiasm about reading begins to emerge, in a month or so, you
can begin to take turns and have her read something aloud to you.
Something she chooses. This will help her build confidence about reading
aloud.
Just remember to enjoy each other's company and the reading experience. No
rules. Just have fun. Your sharing will go a long way in helping your
daughter want to read AND you will be making a memory!
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