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Reading 101: A Guide for Parents
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Reading 101: A Guide for Parents
By: Reading Rockets
Published: 11/12/2020
Welcome, parents! One of the most important gifts we can give our children is to help them learn to read and write so that they can succeed in school and beyond.
Confident, active readers are able to use their reading skills to follow their passions and curiosity about the world. We all read for a purpose: to be entertained, to take a journey of the imagination, to connect with others, to figure out how to do something, and to learn about history, science, the arts, and everything else.
Learning to read is complex. Children don't learn one reading-related skill and then move on to the next in a step-by-step process. Instead, they must develop competency in four areas at the same time: word identification, comprehension, fluency, and motivation.
We hope this guide will give you a better understanding of what it takes to learn to read (and write) and how you can help your children grow as readers, writers, and learners!
Quick start: Select your child’s grade level
Learn about typical milestones and find simple activities to help your child with reading and writing.
► Pre-K
► Kindergarten
► First Grade
► Second Grade
1.
Understanding what print is and the parts of a bookPrint awareness is the understanding that print carries meaning and that in English it reads from left to right. It also means learning that books contain letters and words, have front and back covers, and are handled in a certain way.
2. Recognizing the sounds in spoken words
Phonological and phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and play with the sounds in spoken language — including rhymes, syllables, and the smallest units of sound (phonemes).
3. Connecting the sounds of speech with letters
Phonics is a systematic way to teach the alphabetic principle — the idea that letters represent the sounds of spoken language — and that there is a predictable relationship between letters and sounds.
4. Reading with accuracy and expression
Fluency is a child's ability to read a book or other text with accuracy, at a reasonable rate, and with appropriate expression.
A fluent reader doesn't have to stop and "decode" each word.
5. Knowing what each word means
Vocabulary is word knowledge. Word learning is an ongoing process. Children are always adding to their "word banks" in order to recognize and understand the meaning of spoken and written words.
6. Understanding what you read
Comprehension is the goal of reading! It is the thinking process readers use to understand what they read. Strong vocabulary, background knowledge, and an understanding of how language works are keys to comprehension.
Visit the Reading Basics section to learn more about the building blocks of reading.
From handwriting to personal stories to persuasive writing to explaining how to do something, discover ways to encourage your child to write every day. Developing good writing skills strengthens vocabulary, comprehension, and spelling skills. Visit the Writing Basics section to learn more.
"The primary goals of writing are to communicate, to persuade, to inform, to learn, to reflect about yourself, and also to entertain others. What really makes writing motivating for young children is sharing it and being successful with it."
— Steve Graham, Arizona State University
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Reading together as a family tradition
How time spent reading with parents affects children, and what books to choose for different ages
Family reading helps to establish a strong emotional bond between a child and parents for life, promotes brain development and creates a favorable atmosphere in the family.
Optimal time for family reading
You can read with your child both during the day and in the evening, and you don't even have to do it at home - it all depends on the schedule and the capabilities of the parents.
But, as a rule, the best time to read with a child is in the evening. By this point, even the most restless children are no longer so active, so it is easiest to set the child up to read a book before bed.
If this activity turns into a family ritual, then the child himself will look forward to the hour when he can plunge into the world of fairy tales, poems, stories and adventures with mom or dad. And he will be upset if, for any reason, family reading breaks down. In addition, in the evening, it is easier for even the busiest parents to set aside time to spend it with their baby.
Reading together can become a good family tradition only if adults, parents, grandparents, want it. To do this, try to choose books that are also interesting to you.
Then the chances are higher that they will bring pleasure to the child. And thanks to family reading, adults themselves briefly return to their own childhood.
The child, in turn, spending time with his parents before going to bed with a good book feels secure and happy.
In addition, in families where family reading is practiced, disagreements between family members are much less likely to develop into serious conflicts.
Family reading cannot be replaced by audio books
What is so magical about family reading? It's simple: in the process of reading books, parents teach the child to enter into the right relationship with the world, to listen and hear others. This means that when he grows up, it will be easier for him to cope with difficulties and find a way out of difficult situations.
During the day, the child receives a lot of information from a variety of sources. However, it is in the process of evening family reading that he purposefully listens, delves into what is being read to him. He has questions, doubts are born, he begins to think and put forward his own ideas. When reading is discussed with him, he learns to build a dialogue and consider different points of view.
Many parents try to "kill two birds with one stone" and replace reading with audiobooks.
Yes, the child hears a good staged text with the voices of the actors and musical accompaniment. But this text is impersonal for him, so it is impossible to call it family reading.
The child does not see the bearers of these voices, he cannot contact them to discuss what he has heard. While family reading is both a tactile experience and an opportunity to immediately receive feedback from a significant adult.
Often, modern parents have a negative attitude towards Russian folk tales - they say they are too scary. Of course, if you leave a child alone with an audio fairy tale about Baba Yaga, he will really easily get goosebumps.
However, when these tales existed, they were told in the family circle, and children learned to cope with fear and other negative feelings in a safe environment. This means that when negative emotions and stress arose in real life, it was easier for children to cope with them.
Until what age should children read books
Ideally, it is better to read books to a child regularly before the age of 12.
Then, as a rule, the schedule of children changes, they need to start preparing for an independent life. After this age, family reading may remain a good family tradition, but it is up to high school that reading with a child is especially important.
Alas, quite often parents stop reading together as soon as the child learns to read on his own. They feel that they have fulfilled their task, and after 7-8 years, they see their role only in buying interesting books and making sure that the child reads them.
Parents of older preschoolers often make a big and sad mistake: they start forcing their child to read. And then family reading is quickly replaced by reading lessons. After all, school is soon, and adults feel increased responsibility for the child's skills (or lack of them).
However, it is one thing to develop, together with the child, the skill of combining syllables into words, and sentences into texts. And quite another is joint reading. These are different tasks.
For example, teaching children anything is more effective in the morning. And let the evening become a time that can be spent with pleasure.
When parents begin to mix these two functions, they can cause the child to reject books. Moreover, learning to read is given to everyone in different ways, and quite often this process is fraught with difficulties.
How and what to read with children of different ages
Infancy: from birth to one year
Lullabies are sung to the child, and when he is awake, they play with him, saying various nursery rhymes and pestles. Such poetry for the little ones harmonizes the world in sounds, rhymes and rhythms. This oral-poetic tradition is very strong, because songs and rhymes for the smallest are passed on from generation to generation in a more or less stable form.
In addition to folklore, there is the author's, so-called maternal poetry. The authors of lullabies, washcloths, wake-up calls, spatulas, stomps and other rhymes also preserve elements of folklore in their work.
Children of this age play with the book itself, taste it and test its strength - you can call it part of the natural process of acquaintance with literature. Thus, the child gets used to the book, becomes attached to it as a source of joy. This is the first and very important step in teaching him to read.
What to read. Masha Rupasova - poetry; Book House of Anastasia Orlova - series "The Reader is Born"; Marina Boroditskaya - "Mom, here I am!"; Mikhail Lesnov - "Wonderful"; Nina Pikuleva "Mosquitoes"; Kristina Strelnikova - "Hedgehog".
Early childhood: 1–3 years
At this age, the book becomes even more attractive. The child's interest in rhythmic text - poems and songs is growing. Meanwhile, modeling the world under the eyes of a small child is not an easy task, because small children think in images.
Korney Chukovsky in his creative testament to children's writers advises: books aimed at young children should not be overloaded with epithets.
He proceeded from the fact that babies are just getting acquainted with the objects of the world around them and do not have a very good idea of their properties.
The understanding of adjectives and epithets is based on an experience of observation and comparison that young children do not yet have. “Poems for children should be such,” wrote a children's classic, “so that you can sing, dance, shout, dance, play pranks under them!”
At this age, children also listen with pleasure to short stories and fairy tales, and are also crazy about the so-called Wimmelbuchs - books with a minimum of text and colorful illustrations with great detail. Toddlers like to come up with the text themselves, following the logic set out in the illustrations.
From the point of view of family reading, the meeting of a child and an adult over Wimmelbuch can be very valuable and useful. After all, both - both the parent and the child - at this moment imagine, invent something new. This joint creativity strengthens the emotional bond between the baby and parents.
What to read. Many publishers have entire series of bedtime readings aimed at early ages. For example, a collection of works by contemporary authors "Sleepy Tales". Also, the “Sleep Book” by Anastasia Orlova or “I Love You Always and Forever” by Jonathan Emmett will set the child up for a good sleep.
Preschool: 3-7 years old
At this age, children love books with bright, memorable characters that are full of adventure, travel and discovery. Vocabulary grows rapidly in preschoolers, and reading together plays an important role in this process. They are ready to listen to the same favorite story many times. And each time the child plays the plot in his imagination differently, identifies himself with different characters.
In books for children of this age, the text becomes larger, it begins to acquire a meaning for the child that does not depend on illustrations. Of course, drawings continue to play an important role, but are no longer so necessary.
The text becomes important on its own.
What to read. Literary fairy tales can become favorite books for children of this age. For example, "The Adventures of Butter Lisa" by Viktor Lunin, "The Secret Life of Vegetables" by Alena Vodopyanova, "Chocolate Grandpa" by Narine Abgaryan and Valentin Postnikov, "Podkovkin" by Elena Yaryshevskaya and others.
It is important to continue reading fiction books
Preschoolers are becoming more and more interested in learning. Parents, rejoicing at this, begin to buy books that develop memory, thinking, attention, cognitive children's non-fiction literature. Preschoolers also like books with stickers, tasks, and interactive content. There is also a lot of interesting literature published in this direction.
Since many new opportunities open up for the child, parents gradually begin to “deprive” him of poetry. This may be due, among other things, to the fact that at one time they themselves lost interest in poetry - for example, due to cramming at school.
However, neuropsychologists warn: when a child hears, reads or recites poetry, new neural connections are intensively formed in his brain . Especially in areas that are responsible for speech, memory, creativity and voluntary attention. Therefore, by "removing" poetry and relying only on cognitive prose (which, of course, is also needed), parents deprive their children of additional opportunities for development.
Source:
Master class "Family Reading as a Formula for Happiness" as part of the III National Parent Forum, November 12, 2020
Photo: Collection/iStock
Librarian's conversation with parents of children of preschool and primary school age — Vladivostok Centralized Library System organize conversations “The role of family reading in introducing a child to a book” at parent meetings of kindergarten groups No. 30 and No. 187, as well as 1 “C” and 2 “B” classes of secondary school No. 68.
We are holding an online meeting and we give material for these parents, guiding them in this matter, as well as for all interested parents in raising a reading child.
The importance of reading in a person's life is so obvious that each of those sitting in the hall would certainly like their child to love reading. It is at preschool and primary school age that it is determined who will be a reader in the future and who will not. Therefore, at this age level, it is especially important to introduce the child to the golden fund of a children's book.
Unfortunately, in our age of information, the attitude of children to books has changed, interest in reading has begun to decline. According to numerous studies, already at preschool age, children prefer watching TV and video products and playing computer games to books. As a result, schoolchildren do not want to read, their academic performance decreases, because children still at preschool age have not learned to listen and process the information received.
The ability to carefully “digest” information in the brain and analyze it can only be developed through reading books.
Reading information is better remembered. On the page you can stop, think, reread it. Retelling teaches to analyze the text, to treat it critically. Reading develops the imagination: the child himself represents the characters, and does not accept the image created by others.
Thus, it is necessary to introduce the child to book culture from preschool age. To educate an attentive listener who knows how to accept the necessary information, process it.
It's no secret that the desire to read, a strong interest in reading is formed in the family and its basis is the child's habit of reading. Early age is an auspicious time to develop in your child a love of books and reading.
It is impossible to instill a love of reading all at once and suddenly. This is a long process that requires constant work and a lot of patience. A qualified reader, as historical experience shows, is formed only in the conditions of a group of readers of different ages, with the participation of an adult:
- Reading by an adult to himself in the presence of a child.
- Reading with him.
- Joint experiences caused by the work.
- Discussion read.
All this ultimately contributes to the beginning of the literary education of the child-reader.
And if parents are literate and thinking people, then they will be the first to start working on shaping the child's interest in books. How can they do it?
Here are some tips for parents (from the book by W. Williams "The negligent reader. How to develop and maintain the habit of reading in children"):
- Enjoy reading yourself (quote, laugh, memorize passages, share what you read…).
- Read aloud to children from an early age. Do not replace true acquaintance with the book by listening to audio recordings of fairy tales.
- Take your children to the library and teach them how to use its collections.
- Show that you appreciate reading: buy books, give them yourself and receive them yourself as a gift.
- Make reading fun by showing that books are full of great ideas that children can use in their lives.
- Let the children choose their own books and magazines.
- Subscribe to magazines for the child (in his name), taking into account his interests.
- Have a child read aloud to small children or to someone in the household.
- Encourage reading (allow staying up to read).
- Play board games that involve reading.
- There should be a children's library in the house.
- Collect books on topics that will inspire children to read more about it (books about dinosaurs, space travel, etc.).
- Invite the children to read the book the movie is based on before or after watching the movie.
- If the children have watched an interesting TV show, get a book on the subject.
- Set up a home theatre: read by roles using costumes and props.
- Ask your children often about the books they read.
- It is better for children at first to read short stories, and not long stories: then they will have a feeling of completeness and satisfaction.
It is worth dwelling on the approach to reading aloud. Firstly, you should try to choose books on topics that are interesting to your child, and not what seemed interesting to you as a child, or what is customary to read to children, and you think is appropriate - Russian fairy tales, poems by recognized writers, familiar to you from an early age. childhood, stories that seem instructive and useful to you, but the child is not interested at all, etc.
In addition, how to read aloud matters.
Do not be too persistent, academic and follow all the rules of reading. Don't force anything! Doesn't want to listen to the end - no need to force. If the child is interested in what you are reading, he will definitely come back and ask to read the ending. Even if at the moment he does not have the patience to sit and listen or have more important things to do. It is not necessary to read everything at once and in the correct order. If the child wants to “jump”, look at pictures, play with a book, let him do it! Let him get from the book all the pleasures he wants, and there will be no feeling that the book is when everything is boring and correct.
There is one more thing that can push a child away from reading aloud — if every time after finishing a book he is “interrogated” in detail about what happened there, with details, asked to describe, asked a lot of questions. This is not easy for all children, sometimes you don’t want to do this. Reading turns from pleasure into a lesson.
Give them the opportunity to “digest” what they heard, somehow figure it out for themselves, get impressions from reading, it is not at all necessary to put it into words right away.
There is no doubt that family reading is a means of spiritual communication with children. And if love and respect for the book reign in the house, then we can hope that the child will awaken interest in literature.
The tradition of family reading is very important in the system of family education. And do not think that it will become a thing of the past, because there is a TV, computer and other sources of information. Family reading is not a way to get information and not a form of accumulation of knowledge.
This is the most important and best way of communication and unobtrusive, indirect education, which is the most important and most effective.
It has been proven that if a child begins to hear expressive reading of texts written in good language early, then his own speech develops faster and becomes richer than that of people who hear only colloquial speech.
Family reading becomes an important part of the household when it becomes a ritual. For example, they read aloud when everyone has already gathered after a working day, after dinner or before going to bed. It is good if by that time the child has completed all current affairs (lessons, cleaning toys, washing, etc.). In anticipation of reading, these tasks, which often cause problems, will be easier. It is important not to turn reading into an instrument of reward or punishment. You should not say: “If you remove the toys, I will read it.” It is better to assume that they will be removed anyway, but "the faster you remove the toys, the more we will have time to read.
"
It is very important not to stop reading aloud when children have already learned to read. Firstly, independent reading at first is not an easy job for the child, and for a long time he will not be able to enjoy the plot moves and the language of the book, being absorbed in the reading process itself. Secondly, and, most importantly, family reading is the most important moment of communication between children and parents, because it involves sitting next to each other (and tactile sensations are just as important for the development of kids as others), and empathy, and discussion.
When you have finished reading, invite your child to quietly think about what will happen next in the book. The next day, before reading, ask him to remind you of what was in the book yesterday and share how he imagines the development of the action. This helps the child to better understand the text and develops his speech and imagination.
Speaking of reading aloud, we should also mention audio books, which are very popular nowadays.
There are audiobooks for children, audio fairy tales (as there were once gramophone records with fairy tales for children, only the repertoire available now is much wider), which many children listen to with great interest. If you don't have enough time for long hours of reading aloud, or if you don't feel like you have enough artistry, then this is a good way to teach your child to listen to books. You can also start a tradition of drawing "illustrations" for the story you hear. The main thing is to choose those books that are interesting to our listener.
And here is the method proposed by the famous teacher Sh. Amonashvili.
Its essence is that Carlson gives advice on what to read. He sends him letters about which books he himself is crazy about. This "authoritative" opinion of the beloved hero has a positive effect. The child happily takes up reading, which Carlson himself loves.
The most important thing that parents can do is to advise their child to enroll in the library, and at first visit it together with him.
And one more thing. When a child is sick, he needs more attention than a healthy child. Moreover, he needs a positive attitude. Reading a funny book together with a child will solve this problem.
Reading aloud to a child involves sitting side by side - tactile movements are important for a sick person.
Good book:
- Adds extra pleasure.
- Mobilizes the spiritual forces of the child.
- Beneficial effect on the emotional world of the child.
- Soothes and distracts from illness.
- Gives health to the soul.
In order to teach a child to read, you need to pick up books that for 15-20 minutes in the evening will create a common world for the child and the parent tired of daytime worries, in which the main characters will be the child, the mother, who at least briefly returned to childhood, and a book. Children need to see that the book is of interest to their parents. Only this can form the correct attitude of the future reader towards them.
