How often I have heard the refrain “I wish my child would read books instead of watching T.V. all day!” The joy of getting lost between the pages of a book seems to be an almost forgotten one nowadays.
The most common dilemma of parents today is how do I get my child to love reading….??
FOR PRE SCHOOLERS
“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.” Emilie Buchwald rightly said
Use big colourful books with lots of pictures…..my personal favourite when my kids were small was Richard Scarry books…..oh how they enjoyed the pages with everyday objects in the park , in the kitchen, on the beach….besides the usual fruits and flowers…what joy was to be found in identifying these familiar things…..vocabulary building was so effortless…
Lift the flap books….another perennial favourite…..the flaps don’t last very long though
It is nothing short of amazing how they can go through these same books again and again day after day……knowing what is under each flap but still erupting with joy when it is discovered…
Then comes the stage when long drives are accompanied by story cassettes…..cd’s nowadays…endlessly hearing about the big bad wolf and the three little pigs….don’t you dare even think of switching it off halfway…..if you want peace and quiet in the back seat you have to put up with the narrative…the choice is yours….I happily succumbed to these sounds while at every ping they would turn the page….Soon you get to the stage when they know it by heart and you could almost be forgiven for thinking your child already knows how to read…with such accuracy do they mouth the words…
“ Reading aloud with children is known to be the single most important activity for building the knowledge and skills they will eventually require for learning to read” – says Marilyn Adams …NEVER underestimate the power and influence of the habitual bedtime story….a wonderful bonding moment at the end of the day when all the hurly burly is done…escaping into magical worlds…imagination running riot…memories that last forever begin with this simple act. Innocent questions give you the opportunity to talk about a wide range of subjects venturing into unknown territory…..often it was hard to decide who was enjoying it more…. me or the kids.
