Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Helping Your Child to Read




Helping Your Child to Read – Hey, this is for grandmothers, aunts, and close friends, too!

Football season is upon us!  The roar of the crowd.  Tailgating until your belt’s too tight.  Downing beer until neither you nor your buddies can even drive a tricycle.

Hey, I’m as big a fan of college football as anyone I know, with the exception of my nephew whom Nick Saban calls for advice. Forgive me a very slight exaggeration.

But, my biggest passion is not football, but reading.  Reading ‘bout football? you ask.  Reading ‘bout anything! Sometimes I have a couple of books going at once. Fiction and non-fiction.  I’ve been told I can even keep reading while my wife tries to get my attention.  Turns out she can handle stovetop fires herself.  Possibly, in time she’ll get over it.  I have faith in her.

Matter of fact, I call reading the most important skill, bar none, surpassing even foreplay and lying with a straight face.  Yes, in the title to this article, I wrote, “Your Child,” but maybe it’s your grandchild or a neighbor’s child, or helping out in a classroom.  No limits to gently coaxing children to read and enjoy reading!

Dear heart, not only is it the start of football season, but also classroom season!  From the youngest ages not yet ready for school, and up until they become rebellious middle schoolers, you can help them learn to read and appreciate reading by reading to them.

But, so as to not strain your patience and dreadful lack of attention, let’s specifically address children from infancy through third grade. Why third grade? Stats show that children who don’t read well by the end of third grade are either going to have to fight their way through the challenges of high school, or learn to play football.

Now, it’s only fair to add a few notes before asking you to swallow the words from this oracle of inebriation and seasoned reader.  Pick one.  I can’t do both at the same time.

My mother was a second grade teacher with a master's degree and taught in a style that was well before her time.  My wife has taught every grade through middle school and upwards to GED.  She’s also been a reading specialist and has a master’s in reading.  So, does that make me an educator or reading expert?  Please don’t ask.  I am simply a humble dad who asked my mother and wife a lot of questions and read to both my sons up through the sixth grade.  Both of them are excellent readers, says their dad with pride.  Besides, experts complicate everything.  Just ask a watchmaker what time it is.

So follow this humble dad's simple and stress-free suggestions for helping your child to read.

1.    Keep It Fun
Quiet, tranquil, comfortable for the both of you.  Sit close enough for everyone to see the pages. Make it a quiet and calming expression of love.  I have great memories of warm, pajama clad babes cuddled close, with a book in my hand.
     
2.    Follow your Child’s Interests
Some children like to read about picnics and some about trucks.  I have sons of both varieties.  Path of least resistance! Read what interests them. Children’s minds are open to exploring the universe.  Let them explore.  Harry Truman, our 33rd President said it best.  “The only way to influence your children is to find out what they want to do and encourage them to do it.”  My wife had a child in 3rd grade, a poor reader until she found out he was hungry for airplanes and space.   She shoved those books his way and he suddenly developed a passion for reading!  Even made presentations to the whole class.

3.    Read Consistently
Start with very simply written picture books for the pre-readers. Your child will let you know when it’s time to move up a level and that may come sooner than you think.

My brother was a soccer coach and at one coaching symposium he came back with this jewel:  “As a coach, don’t you decide how much your players can learn.”  Note:  To me, teacher and coach are synonymous.  Same with player and student.

Read with your child everyday, building up to 30 minutes a day by 3rd Grade.  Your child will adore that perfectly calm time with you, when the two or three or more of you share stories from a book. Easy to check Google for suggestions about age appropriate books.  Also, I’ll bet your local librarian would love to help.

      4.  Discuss What You Read
Time to open up your child’s imagination and sense of discovery. Best way to develop your child’s vocabulary and fan the flames of natural curiosity is to discuss what you read. Encourage questions. Lead the way and express your own questions:  I wonder why…..?  Who do you think was the bravest?  Which dress did you like best?  (Pointing)  I like the red dress. Do you like the green one?

5.    Children Like Repetition
After you’ve read a few books, let your child pick out favorites.  Don’t be surprised if she picks out the same book fourteen times in a row. Go with it. Repetition is how children learn to read.  Ask him to tell you the story.  Remembering and expressing the story in his own words is the first step toward reading and understanding what he is reading. You may want your beginning reader or pre-reader to tell his grandmother or someone else about the book.

6.    NO NEGATIVE COMMENTS (which I realize is a negative comment)
Negativity will turn off learning faster than whispering, “WHAT WAS THAT STRANGE NOISE IN YOUR CLOSET?”  Comments such as “You’re just telling the story, you’re not reading it!” will soon make your child anxious.  Stand by for a lot of “I don’t feel like it.”

7.    FIRST and FOREMOST KEEP IT FUN and FOLLOW YOUR CHILD’S LEAD!
Reading each day should be a wonderful time for both you and your child and a very special way to build fabulous memories for both of you!

Made it through the whole article?  You get a gold star and a second and maybe even a third wine.

Now for some famous and not so famous quotes:

“If you cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.”
- Oscar Wilde

“The more things you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”  - Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut

“I find television very educating.  Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.” – Groucho Marx

“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” – Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

“Don’t just teach your children to read….teach them to question everything they read.  Teach them to question everything.”  - George Carlin

“A child who reads, will be an adult who thinks.” – unknown

“A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.” – Chinese proverb

“Reading is the boat that will sail you to the far shores of knowledge.” – I know, but I ain’t sayin’


No comments:

Post a Comment