Reading is an important factor of early childhood literacy. And while every child learns at a different pace, parents play a role in encouraging their child to learn or improve his or her reading skills. As parents, what you can do is to find time reading to your child. Make books an integral part of your child’s life. Montessori Children’s House has tips to help you in improving your child’s learning while you read together.
Let Book Choice Be a Parent and Child Thing
In order to know what interests your child, let him/her pick a title himself/herself. This allows him or her to fully concentrate, understand and interact through questions. Engage your child in the learning process. And because you also have to make your own choices of reading materials, think about reading your childhood favorite classic stories to him or her.
Don’t Get Tired Reading the Same Stories Again
Normally, small children love to hear the same stories again and again, so expect them to make the same requests. Keep in mind that re-reading supports different literacy skills so just do it, but make sure you introduce new books. With repetition, children will be able to remember new vocabulary. Also, if you want to build on this familiarity, consider book series which feature the same characters and in the same plot. This makes your children feel comfortable and accomplished as they know the familiar tales’ outcome.
Test what your Child Learned through Open-Ended Questions
You don’t just teach your child to learn here, rather, to also promote reading comprehension. And by asking questions, you will know how far your child has learned from the reading. But you don’t ask questions that can be answered by a simple “YES” or “NO.” Open-mind questions make your child think. For instance, you can ask him or her how he or she thinks that character feel or make him or her predict what will happen next.
Help Your Child Learn to Think His or Her Way through a Story
This requires you to initiate a discussing in a more engaging way. Start by speaking your thoughts aloud and encouraging him or her to discuss the story himself/herself. This type of discussion will help your child to connect his or her personal experiences to the stories.
Draw Attention to Unfamiliar Vocabulary
As you emphasize a new word, let your child guess the meaning of the word based on context. And to check if his or her guess makes sense, read the passages again. Helping your child understand vocabulary in context builds a skill he or she can use again and again. Also, if your child cannot guess the meaning of a word, define it so he or she can understand. And review all the new words at the end of the story.
Don’t Stop Reading Together Even if your Child is Already a Good Reader
The listening comprehension levels of children tend to be higher than their independent reading levels. Therefore, there are books you can read aloud from that are more difficult than what your child can read by himself/herself. Reading more challenging stories to him or her offers great opportunities to practice skills to think aloud. Also, you can go for a familiar book and let your child read the story to you. This provides him or her the confidence to read aloud.
Reading books to and with your child reinforces the reading experience as a fun, family moment. With some creativity, you can transform story time into a productive opportunity and a cherished family tradition.
A child’s reading ability is vital for early childhood development. For Early Childhood Education in Riverside, California, call Montessori Children’s House now and let your child improve his or her reading skills.
