Preparing the littlest minds for a lifetime of reading

Saturday, March 7, 2009
At left, Julie Woods reads to 14-month-old Alex Woods as she holds him on her lap. Alex won't be reading on his own for quite some time, but it's not too early to start introducing him to books and positive feelings relating to reading. Meanwhile, his brother, Blake, not pictured, plays and listens, forming his own building blocks for literacy. --Lynn A. Wade/Herald-Tribune

Fourteen-month-old Alex Woods looked intently at the pictures as his mother talked to him about the book in her hands. He touched the book and leaned his head against his mother, Julie. The moment was short. A few pages were enough, then it was on to other things. But to Parents As Teachers experts looking on, two things were happening. Alex was learning to associate reading and books with a positive moment, and he was being introduced to the world of information in books. Meanwhile, his 2-year-old brother played nearby -- aware of the reading, and having the opportunity to share in the interaction surrounding the books -- another opportunity to see books as good. Although his awareness of the reporter watching distracted him a bit, he still went back, again and again, in close proximity to his parent as she read. He, too, is taking the steps that can help start him on a journey of a lifetime -- one to reading and enjoying it.

"It's never too soon," said Bryan Elementary School Principal Debbie Spaur. In fact, early childhood education experts seem to agree it may even be beneficial to read aloud to an unborn child. "A recent study published in the Early Childhood Education Journal confirms that parents and caregivers reading aloud to infants is necessary in developing literacy skills ... such as print awareness, vocabulary development, fluency and comprehension."

Reading often plays a key role in how far a person can go in life, Spaur noted, and starting to develop skills early helps. "If they don't, then that time has to be made up later. It's harder for the child."

Some parents may hesitate to introduce small children to books because the parents don't read well; but that's OK, experts say. Don't worry if you have trouble reading. "Your baby will like the sound of your voice talking about the pictures in the book," parent information from PAT says.

Nevada R-5 School District Parents As Teachers Educator Lynnette Foster reads to Cole Burch. The two build skills by taking turns pointing out colors and items associated with words. --Photos by Lynn A. Wade/Herald-Tribune

"You can talk about the pictures, even make up the story. Don't minimize your importance," Spaur said. Parents who don't read often for enjoyment can still turn pages, point out words in the environment, and have conversations with the child.

"Conversations plants vocabulary" in the child's brain, Spaur explained -- and that's another building block of literacy.

Nevada R-5 speech pathologist Nancy Ross suggests limiting the use of video games, cell phones and iPods around preschoolers. "Use the time instead to invite or encourage communication," Ross said.

Parents also can enlist the help of other family members to read to the children, or take their children to story time events, holding them close while someone else reads.

"Of all the things I could tell you, reading out loud to children is the single most important thing you can do to encourage their ability to read," Spaur said.

Kindergarten teachers agreed. Allison Ferry said, "Read, read, read to them."

Janie Watts gave almost identical advice, adding suggestions such as reading recipes and measuring together and calling attention to words in the environment, like store or restaurant names.

Kindergarten teacher Chris Pettibon suggests having the child try to retell the story, making up different endings to a story, and pointing out pictures that go with words in the story.

When they do start learning to read for themselves, "it's like when they say their first words -- you get all excited and it's OK that it's not perfect. Let them make mistakes. You want them to feel successful. Later, of course, you'll want them to make mistakes less and less."

Children also need to have experiences, so that the things they see and read in books make sense to them. Simple activities, like going to the grocery store, playing in the park, seeing a lake and talking about plant life or animals in a field or zoo can all help provide experiences that can help a child relate to the messages in the books.

"Reading is about the transfer of meaning from one mind to another. Books contain meaning, and the point of reading is to get to those meanings. Think about how hard it is when you're reading something really technical that you don't know about ... how difficult it can be to get through that," Spaur said.

Ross suggests "teaching the names of everyday objects, describing what you see," and making sure the child can hear adequately, because that's important in developing speech language and reading skills.

Modeling reading -- reading for yourself from recipes, newspapers, magazines, instructions for something -- also lets the child see that reading has value, Spaur noted.

Even though activities that build toward reading can happen at any age, "Children are all different. They read when they are ready," Spaur said.

Lynnette Foster, PAT educator, agreed, saying "Children may vary in their enthusiasm and interest in the reading readiness process, so parents should offer enjoyable activities from age 3 to 5 that encourage readiness but should not force these activities at a young age if the child is clearly not interested."

Because all children are different, it's also true that despite the best efforts in that direction, some children will still struggle with reading, and the help of reading experts may be needed, Spaur noted.

Nevertheless, efforts like these shouldn't stop because the child has entered school, regardless of the child's readiness or interest in reading at the time.

"It can't hurt. None of this should stop as time continues. They still need to develop these skills. In the schools, teachers read aloud to the children, too," Spaur said.

For more information about age-appropriate activities relating to reading readiness and math, call the Parents As Teachers or early childhood education program in your area.

In the Nevada R-5 school district, call (417) 448-2061; in Bronaugh, call (417) 922-3211; in Sheldon, call (417) 884-5711; in the NEVC district, call (417) 432-3196.

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