Read With Your Kids #3
Want to create strong readers and build good reading habits? One of the most important things that you can do is read with your children and share your love of reading with them. Even if you are not a fiction reader, grab the newspaper, a magazine, technical manual, or cookbook and show your children that reading is a crucial life skill necessary for living a happy and productive life.
Start sharing books with children when they are babies. Find books that have simple text, great pictures, and are kid engaging. If there is a lot of text, paraphrase the story, simplify the text, and point to the pictures as you tell the story. As children become talkers, ask them questions starting with show me or point to the picture of _______. Books with repetitive text like Sheep in the Jeep and Are You My Mother? help children learn the rhythm of language. Reading the same books over and over again and waiting for your child to finish a sentence or rhyme are important to developing early reading skills.
Pick books for early readers that use decodable text, words that can be decoded using the phonological skills that your child should be learning in school. Look for books that have more words that can be read by your child than words that cannot be read by her. When you read together you can tell her the words that she has not yet learned how to read, while she reads the words that can be decoded using the skills that she has learned. If your kindergarten-third grade child is not being taught to read in a structured phonological sequence, then you may want to talk to your child’s school about what they are doing and suggest they take a look or listen to the following: https://www.apmreports.org/story/2018/09/10/hard-words-why-american-kids-arent-being-taught-to-read .
Read books aloud to your children that are above their reading level. Read books that you loved as a child, books that are popular with children your child’s age, and books that they pick out at your local library or favorite children’s bookstore. If you live in the Santa Fe area, check out Bee Hive Bookstore (https://beehivekidsbooks.com) where the friendly and helpful staff can help you find books that will grab any reader. Now you can also order any book online through the website. Explain words that are unfamiliar to your child before reading the word in a passage in the book; provide background knowledge if the topic, location, or time period are unfamiliar to your child. Don’t use this book as one that you and your child take turns reading, save this book as your special “read aloud book”. You can keep up this habit into middle school and beyond. Make it a part of your bedtime ritual.
With middle school and high school students who are good readers, read the same book that they are reading and discuss the book with your child. Ask each other questions, ask for opinions, discuss favorite and not so favorite parts. Look online for discussion questions if you can’t think of some yourself. The point is to share the experience of reading ; not to ask the world’s best questions.
Set up a reading time once a week or more often when everyone in the household reads what they want to read including the funnies, sports page, graphic novels, picture books, magazine articles, non-fiction and fiction books, etc. for a specific amount of time such as 30 minutes or an hour. Anyone who chooses can share what they have read after the “reading time” is up. No need to make this mandatory, just try to give everyone who wants to share an opportunity to talk.
Making reading an important and fun daily activity develops life-long reading habits, strengthens reading and vocabulary skills, and opens up the wonderful world of reading and imagination to your child.
[...]