Pre-Reading Skills and Parent Read Alouds

PRE-READING SKILLS

PARENT READ ALOUDs

READ ALOUD TO YOUR CHILD FROM THE TIME THEY ENTER THIS WORLD. Many people begin even sooner, knowing their fetus responds to the sound of their voice several months before birth. Infants love the sound of your voice and want to listen to you speak as often as possible. Set aside a minimum of fifteen minutes per day to read from books. Using books introduces your child to a wider range of vocabulary. In my own home, my husband and I tend to have the same conversations over and over again. We talk about what we’re having for dinner, what chores or errands need to be done, which politician we’re disgusted with, what our cat is doing, and whether or not we have enough soup and chocolate on hand. In other words, our conversation consists of the same limited vocabulary. By reading stories on a wide range of topics, you will introduce your child to a much larger pool of vocabulary. Students who have been read to will develop a much larger vocabulary, based on what they have heard. These students will be far more prepared for reading than their peers who were rarely or never read to at home.

If you are a parent who has a reading disability such as dyslexia, this may sound like your child doesn’t stand a chance. Don’t worry; I have some tips for you too. From birth to age three or four, describe what you see in picture books. Do your best to tell it using a story format, giving characters names, and describing the setting. Try to have a beginning, middle and end to the story, and most importantly use the widest range of descriptive words you can. I talk more about help for dyslexic parents and children in my book – check the Additional Information section.

Keep reading to your child, well after they have learned to read on their own. Picture dictionaries are useful when learning to speak and name things, but stories are best for reading aloud to children. Stories give them a sense of how language works. They can hear the rhythm and flow of how sentences sound. They begin to understand how to use articles like “the;” how to use verbs like “is” and “are;” and how to use pronouns like “he” and “she.” In other words, children learn to listen for what a sentence sounds like. They begin to develop an understanding of the purpose of stories. Is it teaching a lesson, or entertaining? Is it teaching rhyme or alliteration? They won’t know as infants or toddlers, but they will begin to develop that foundation of understanding just from hearing your voice.

Point to words, and let your finger run smoothly under the sentences as you read. This helps your child develop print awareness, the realization that there is a relationship between the words on the page and the words you are speaking. In time, they will understand those printed words have meaning, just as your spoken words do. Point to the pictures and talk about what you each see. Does it relate to the words? Do the pictures add information? Does it make you wonder what will happen next?

Choosing which books to read can feel overwhelming. There are so many to choose from. In general you want stories to be entertaining enough to hold your child’s interest. They should also be age appropriate, relatable, and relevant. So, if your child is learning the names of colors you may want a story that incorporates some color words. If your family is planning a trip to a farm, read a story about farm animals. If it is winter time, read a story about snow. Read stories that include multicultural traditions, history, science, nature, animals, other kids, the list goes on and on. Gradually, as your child matures into kindergarten and early elementary school you will want the stories to become increasingly more realistic and relatable.  Real world narratives will be of increasing interest to your child as he gets into the elementary grades. In the meantime, don’t be afraid to read and discuss challenging material beyond their ability to decode. After all the purpose of reading aloud isn’t for the child to read the book, the purpose is to develop listening, thinking and comprehension skills.  If your child struggles to understand, your job is to help them. Comprehension is about inferring what has not been said in the book. You will need to help them draw on the background knowledge you have taught them. When you come across unfamiliar words in your reading, take the time to define the word right then. It’s more efficient than teaching the words before or after reading. You may be wondering how many times you should read a book, and whether you should stay on the same topic for a while or move on. The answers vary a bit by age. Two and three year olds will want to hear the same story over and over again. That’s fine just don’t limit reading to their favorite books. By four, stick to the same topic long enough for it to become familiar, but use a wide variety of books on that topic. Children learn words faster when topics are familiar.

One of my favorite resources is www.GrowingBookbyBook.com. Both parents and teachers will find this web site extremely useful when making decisions about which book to read next. Founder Jodie Rodriguez does a wonderful job of creating lists of books with a common theme. You’ll find lists by category as well as by age. She also shares many tips for teaching your student to read. Here are a few lists you won’t want to miss:

·        100 Books Every Child Should Hear Before                 Kindergarten

·         Song Books For Babies

·         Favorite Books for 1-2 Year Olds

·         Favorite Books for 2-3 Year Olds

·         Favorite Books for 3-4 Year Olds

·         Multicultural Books for Preschoolers

·         Science for Preschoolers

·         Favorite Books for 5-6 Year Olds

One of my favorite childhood books was The Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats. As a child growing up in sunny southern California, snow was intriguing! I loved hearing Peter “crunch, crunch, crunch,” as he walked through the snow, and making snow angels! Wow!!! I wanted to do that! I had no way of understanding at the time, that this book was breaking color barriers. Published in 1962, a book featuring an African American boy as the main character in a mainstream publication was virtually unheard of. Yet, here I was, a “little white girl,” identifying with a “little black boy.” This is why I encourage you to read multicultural books to your students. Children don’t see color or cultural barriers. They enjoy quality stories and illustrations. They identify with characters, imagine themselves in places they’ve never been, and learn that differences are insignificant when compared to how much we all have in common.

  

Make a point of looking for award winning children’s literature. Awarded by the American Library Association, The Caldecott Award is for illustrations, and the Newbury Award is for distinguished children’s literature. These are the best of the best. Finding Caldecott and Newbury Award winning books is easy @ www.bookworm4kids.com.

You’ll also find many book lists at www.EarlyChildhoodEducationZone.com, www.GoodReads.com, www.ReadAloudAmerica.org, www.Scholastic.com, www.TeachersFirst.com, www.the-best-childrens-books.org, and www.TheMeasuredMom.com.

Your child’s early reading years will consist mostly of fiction, but that doesn’t mean you can’t include some non-fiction in your read alouds. Use non-fiction for realistic photos, naming things, and building background knowledge. By fourth grade, half of your child’s reading should be non-fiction, with the other half being fiction. By ninth grade, 70% of his reading should be non-fiction. So, your early non-fiction read alouds will serve as an introduction to this genre.

The last thing you’ll want to think about is where you read. Create a cozy spot. It can be anything: a pile of blankets and pillows on the floor; a spot to curl up on the sofa; a bean bag chair; or a special nook or reading tent. In the summer: spread out a blanket under a tree; pull up a favorite lawn chair; or maybe a rocking chair on the front porch. The point is for both of you to be comfortable. Make reading an enjoyable activity you will both look forward to every day.

TEACH BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE

 START BUILDING BACKGROUND FROM INFANCY, AND NEVER STOP. You don’t need to have a book in your hands all the time. Talk to your child. Explain everything. Talk about all those household chores you do, why you do them, what tools and products you use, and why you use them. Name all of the rooms and objects in your home. Talk about how you use those rooms and why you have those objects. Look at family photos and talk about your family. Go outside and name the trees, and plants. Talk about the weather and how it affects the plants. Your child has entered the world with a blank slate. Help them fill it up with any tidbit of information you can think of. As they begin to grow, children have lots of questions – answer them, even if you already have. They are trying to understand the world around them. Help them understand. The more background information they have the better. You see, books don’t explain everything. Authors often assume readers know certain things like: where our food comes from – plants and animals; what a mountain is vs. a hill; which animals live in a jungle vs. a forest or a farm. So, it’s up to parents and teachers to provide that background knowledge. Without it, reading comprehension will be slow and frustrating. The more background knowledge your child has the easier it will be for him to understand what is being read to him, as well as, what he is reading independently. Remember the ultimate goal is literacy, true literacy – not just decoding words on a page. You want your child – or student, to comprehend and derive meaning from those sentences he just read. So talk, answer questions, listen to what he has to say, correct misinformation, and listen again.

The Pringle Plan For Pre-Reading Skills : A Practical Guide For Parents and Teachers of Pre-K, Kindergarten, Speech and Language, Autism, and Other Special Education Students

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The Pringle Plan is a series of educational guides. 

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