In Focus - Reading

The last three weeks we have bought you information on age appropriate book features and themes. We have given you advice on how to structure your story time to make it special and fun and also some tips for reading aloud. We have also bought you the top 10 kid’s picture books and hints on how to make your own books at home. This week we talk about your pre-school child.

We have talked so far the last few weeks about enjoying reading with your child, making it fun and exciting and not about learning. But when do you start ‘helping’ your child to learn more about books to prepare them for school? Today we will bring you some tips on how to best prepare your child for kindergarten in relation to literacy.

We do not want to take the fun out of storytime with your growing child but we can start to add in more discussion when reading. Here are some examples of what you can do:

Before starting a book ask your child what they think it might be about, can they use the pictures to predict what might happen, prompt with the title if needed. For example on the story Where is the Green Sheep? By Mem Fox there is a picture of three coloured sheep running down a hill, you could ask what they think it is about and then prompt with the title, “Can you see a green sheep? I wonder where it is, where do you think it is?” If your child is familiar with the story prompt him/her to tell you what they remember.

• While reading the story ask simple questions such as ‘How do you think the character felt?” “Scared?” “Would you be?” Ensure you keep it quick and casual keeping the emphasis on fun, do not draw the story out too long or your child will become bored.

• If the book you are reading is known to your child see if they can finish the last one or two words from the sentence for you, they may remember this from reading the story often. The best books to do this with are ones with repetition and rhyme such as the Hairy Maclary series by Lynley Dodd.

• Start using book language casually such as, “I love the picture on this front cover” or “Lets look at the title page”. Your child will be listening and will soon learn the different parts of a book.

• For children starting kindergarten encourage your child to point along with the words as you read, this is important for learning one-to-one correspondence, one word read is one word said.

• At the end of the story ask your child their favourite part of the book. Extend this eventually by asking them to tell you what happened at the start, what was the problem in the middle (as their invariably is) and what happened at the end of the story (how was that problem solved).

Remember you are your child’s first and most important teacher and many of the things you do at home every day can help your child learn. Describing what you are doing and why, writing a shopping list (your child can draw the pictures), following a recipe (your child can help you get the ingredients and stir), getting a book from the library, planning a birthday party, drawing a picture and writing on it (perhaps send it to a relative to make it meaningful), making a book with pictures and words (to keep in the bookshelf), these are all things that you can do at home with your child. Remember everyone has knowledge to share, even if you don’t think you do! Above all keep it fun!

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