Boosting Reading Achievement Potential
How Positive Early Reading Experiences can Ensure Reading Success
Nov 15, 2009
Children learn all sorts of things incidentally when they are read to. Perhaps the most important of these relates to attitude rather than skill. When a child sits beside an adult there is a physical and emotional closeness that is shared between the reader and the listener. The child cannot help but hear and feel the reader's involvement in the story. The child sees reading as a valued activity.
An early, positive acquaintance with books is the very best introduction a child can have to the joys of reading. A home where parents and older siblings can be observed reading happily demonstrates to younger children the value of books and reading. Better still is a home where children are read to and favorite stories are re-read many times in a warm and loving way.
Understanding the Convention of Text
As the children sit with adults they observe and participate in what happens when a book is read. What may appear to be basic skills to those who are readers, does not happen without practice.
When being read to a child learns
- The right way to hold the book
- The order in which the pages are turned
- That words convey a message
- That the pictures relate to the words
- To recognize familiar words
- The love of words and language
- To use their imagination
- Empathy for others in similar or different situations
Language skills begin to develop during the first three years of a child's life. For children from homes where there are no books beginning school can be a challenge. For a child who has not been read to and has not observed reading as a valued activity, reading is a mystery that can take expert help to solve.
It is possible to ensure that a child has the best possible start to learning across all areas of the curriculum by providing enjoyable early reading experiences. This does not mean teaching a child the alphabet or giving him lists of words to learn by rote. Early reading experiences should be based on love and shared enjoyment of the story and all it involves.
Books Suitable for Early Reading Experiences
There is a wide variety of books that are suitable for young children. Picture books rely heavily on pictures to support the text and may use only pictures to tell the story. Nursery rhyme books and rhyming stories are an excellent choice. Rhyming helps a child predict text, which is an essential early reading skill. Pattern books and simple factual books are suitable for young children.
By providing enjoyable early reading experiences, parents can contribute much to a child's reading success. A child who has been prepared for school by these positive early reading experiences should learn to read with ease. Providing these experiences will help ensure that a child is ready for school and all that beginning school involves.
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