Reading with children : making it count!
- Laurie Nash
- May 9, 2021
- 3 min read
Reading to your child is one of the most enjoyable and fun ways for parents to promote literacy learning in young children. There is a definite social aspect of reading together as seen in the video below (Sesame Street in Communities, 2014). Did you know that the development of literacy concepts even from a very young age helps children in future academic learning in many other developmental domains?
The Hanen Centre (The Hanen Centre, 2016) which gives both parents and teachers tips in building language and literacy learning into everyday interactions with children lists the following key literacy concepts parents can promote in the early years through reading books.
Vocabulary - Using books in building the size of children's vocabulary and exposing them to word they may not already know through day to day interactions.
Story Comprehension - learning how stories develop and unfold. To understand that the concept of stories is that they have a beginning, a middle and a conclusion.
Inferencing - Helping children in using their knowledge of what they already know to problem solve scenarios and understanding characters emotions in books.
Print knowledge - That print is different from pictures, that it goes from left to right and front to back in a book.
Alphabet knowledge - Recognising the letters of the alphabet.
Sound awareness - Understanding that the printed letter has a sound.
Letter-sound knowledge - Learning to connect individual sounds into a complete word.
Figure 1
Mother reading to child
Note. Parentipacek. (2016) Mother son reading [Photograph], Pixabay.
What is shared reading?
Shared reading between parents and children has evidence based research that shows it develops children's emergent literacy learning (Sim & Berthelsen, 2014). Shared reading goes beyond simply reading aloud a book to a child. Shared reading includes dialogue, asking and waiting for a response from your child, encouraging them to ask questions, pointing out pictures and explaining new words you encounter (Shahaeian et al., 2018). The video below from The Puckett Institute (2017) shows some parents engaging in shared reading with their child.
How to do shared reading with your child?
The primary focus in teaching literacy concepts to children in early childhood is to make the experience fun and enjoyable. Literacy learning and shared reading is both a social connection time between parents and children as well as promoting literacy learning. The talk that occurs with children during shared reading sessions is its crucial component. In the home setting shared reading can be an intimate experience between a parent and a child. Reading aloud to children by Bill Spence (2004, as cited in Ewing et.al., 2016) lists some principles that can be used to guide and enrich shared reading experiences.
ensure you are familiar with the story before starting to read
explore the front and back covers to create anticipation of what's inside
encourage the children to try and predict what's coming next in the story
ask children questions that relate to images and waiting for responses
reading in an engaging, expressive manner
after you have finished reading talk about its content and what they think
continue the story using other means of expression, such as drawing, painting and music
IN ACTION -
Shared reading in an early childhood room - three to four year old room
Over a period of a few days we read the story Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom (Martin & Archambault, 2009). This story has a fun alphabet chant with repetitive words that the children would eagerly chant back. Throughout the story the children were asked what letters were on the page and what they predicted would happen to the coconut tree as the letters crowded on it. After we finished the story there was a lot of interest in coconuts as well so we cut out and created our own version of a coconut tree. Another experience to extend on the story was in the cracking open of a coconut. A video showing the story is below (Storybook Nany read aloud, 2018).
What books should I choose?
The primary goal in reading books to your child is to implement and encourage a life long enjoyment of books and reading. Some guides to choosing the right type of books to your child is (Lowry, 2016):
REPITITIVE TEXT
Children respond to repetitive words in books which encourages them to join in the story.
SIMPLE STORIES
For young children just beginning to read select stories with a simple focus.
ENGAGING ILLUSTRATIONS
Children respond visually to different styles of illustrations - both black and white and colourful ones that portray different emotions.
NON FICTION BOOKS
Books about interests of children or even new topics provide opportunities for new vocabulary development and conversation starters.
Figure 2
Imagination through reading
Note. Tumisu. (2019) Fantasy in books [Photograph], Pixabay.
https://pixabay.com/illustrations/storytelling-fantasy-imagination-4203628/
We'd love to hear your thoughts or experiences with shared reading. If you have any questions ask them below.
Do you have any favourite books that you enjoy reading with your child?
Please comment below.
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