Have you read to your child today?
Reading to your child everyday is the single most important thing that you can do to make your child a life-long reader, a better problem-solver, and a success in school. Scientists have proven a connection between reading and brain cell development, especially early in your child's life. As former President of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Dr. Robert Hannemann, tells us, pediatricians are acutely aware of the role reading plays in infant brain and child development and strongly recommend daily reading to children from six months of age.
Reading is fun. It's fascinating. And its lessons can last forever. Researchers have discovered that unlike talking, reading is not a biologically hard-wired skill. So kids have to be carefully taught—from birth. When you introduce simple picture books to your child, you contribute to a solid foundation for early literacy. Your preschooler's pre-reading skills develop as you repeatedly read favorite stories and encourage his pretend reading.
Author Marc Brown points out that reading to your child gives you an opportunity to personalize the material and share your values with your child. Computer programs and videos do not afford these opportunities because, unlike reading, they are close-ended pre-programmed activities.
Books can be read over and over again and new things can be discovered each time. Picture books are an introduction to art as well as literature and the pictures help to tell the story. Take Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak, for example. One night you and your child may concentrate on the meaning of the words. You can ask questions such as “Why was Max sent to his room?” “Did Max enjoy being king of the wild things?” Another night you may ponder together if the story really happened or is only a dream. Still another night you might examine the pictures closely noting how the first illustration is small taking up a partial page while the pictures in the middle of the book take up more and more space until they occupy the entire area of two pages pushing out the words entirely. The pictures then become smaller and smaller as the book draws to an end, finally leaving the words, “and it was still hot,” alone on the final page. In fact, you can read this book to your child over and over again, finding new delights each and every time you read it.
Your child will begin to pretend to read the book before he actually can read it. By doing this he is demonstrating knowledge of the beginning, middle, and end of the story and how it progresses from one part to the next. He is learning how to express the meaning of the story through the way he uses his voice. He is picking up vocabulary and learning how to understand and discuss the meaning of what he reads. All of these skills will help him succeed later in school.
Contrast this with computer literacy programs where the child is required to give the one correct answer. Is there always one correct answer in life? Time is under your own control when you read books unlike videos or television which proceed at their pace. When you read you can pause and discuss. You can look back to a previous page. You can wait and think. You can make connections and ask questions if you don't understand.
All of the teachers at MCNS incorporate books into their everyday activities. Books are available to our children on easy-to-reach bookshelves in each classroom. Children are read to at group meeting times but also individually and in small groups throughout the day. As children get older they may "read" to their classmates or to dolls and stuffed animals. They may retell stories they have heard to each other or play them out in the dramatic play area. They are sometimes inspired to make their own picture books.
MCNS also has a small but well-stocked library adjacent to the cubby room. Parents are encouraged to borrow a few books at a time for books to bring home. It is exciting to get to choose books, bring them home and read them. Children are learning how to share community books, valuing them and taking good care of them so that others can also enjoy them. They can remove the cards from the pockets of the books, write their names or have their parents write them, put the cards in the file box, take the books home, enjoy them for a few days. They then bring the books back to school, find the cards in the box, return them to the pockets of the books and help find their places on the shelves. So many things are learned this way.
We also provide parents a way to purchase inexpensive books through the Scholastic book clubs. There are many good choices in the fliers you receive and teachers are happy to help you make selections. Building your own library is a good habit to start early in life.
So choose a good book, find a comfortable place to snuggle and be close with your child and enjoy. The following are some great picture books that we guarantee will delight both of you and bring many hours of pleasure. All of them are available in our school library. Alligators All Around, Pierre, One was Johnny , and Chicken Soup with Rice by Maurice Sendak; Anansi the Spider by Gerald McDermott; Angus and the Cat by Marjorie Flack; Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman; Blueberries for Sal and Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey; Bread and Jam for Francis by Russell Hoban; Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See? by Bill Martin, Jr ; Freight Train by Donald Crews; Goodnight Moon by Margaret Brown; Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson; Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion; If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Nameroff; Kente Colors by Debbi Chocolate; Leo the Late Bloomer by Robert Kraus; The Line-up Book by Russo Marisabina; Little Bear by Else Minarik; The Little House and Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton; Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans; Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag; Papa, Please get the Moon for Me and The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle; Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins; The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown; The Snowy Day and Whistle for Willie by Ezra Jack Keats; The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack; Strega Nona by Tomie De Paola; Swimmy by Leo Leonni; Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig; The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter; Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold; Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel; and Yoko by Rosemary Wells, among many others.
This article by the Older Group teacher, Susan Milligan, is reprinted from a recent school newsletter.