Reading to your children is a wonderful way to facilitate extra talking to children, especially if the words in the book become the jumping off point for more conversation.
Books open up a new
window to peek out of and look at other people and places. An author may have a new voice that can share
ideas mom or dad may not have thought about, and use new vocabulary words.
Some combinations of words are just fun to say and hear. Good illustrations or photographs can zero in
on a concept and facilitate
understanding.
A good story should entertain
both child and parent, and be a happy shared experience. As a preschool teacher of many years, and
grandmother to 16 children, I’ve read a lot of books to children and I have a
few suggestions.
·
Start when they are very little. Even infants enjoy looking at picture books,
and it gives mom and dad fun things to point to and talk about. Books soon become associated with warmth and a happy lap time.
·
Read a variety of books. Your child might always love a book about
trucks, or dearly want that tattered Tinkerbell story, but variety is at the heart
of learning. Don’t skip factual books
with good illustrations and photos that give you more to look at and talk
about.
·
Go ahead and read over and over that one special
favorite book. When the story is
familiar it gives you room to pause and speculate about the characters and what
they are thinking, or why the illustrations show what they show. One year my preschool class requested over
and over the book Drat That Fat Cat!
and the more we read it, the more funny it became to the children. Favorite stories can take on a life of their
own.
·
Respond to what you are reading. I like to pause sometimes and say, “Oh my
goodness! I wonder what will happen
next.” Invite the child to wonder and
speculate with you, but don’t go on too long and let the story get lost.
·
Talk about what you’ve read. In the story, Bootsie Barker Bites, a little girl has trouble with a mean
friend. It’s natural lead in for talking
about friends, how we play, and if they have had experiences like that. Talk about stories you’ve read in the past
when new experiences come up. “Look, it’s a fire truck just like the one in the
story! Only this one is yellow. Why do
you think it’s yellow, not red?”
· Make the story your own. Not every author is great, and he or she will
never know if you do some free form adapting as you read. Go ahead and ramp up the drama or the
silliness or change the names to match your children. Don’t skip over the hard words. But go back and tell what the word means when
the story is done, or say the word and then tell what it means in a couple of
words as you read. Hearing new words is
how young vocabularies grow.
© Diane L. Mangum 2016
