Raising Readers
- Author Maryann Bell
- Published February 10, 2011
- Word count 659
Start Early: The First Three Years
Just as a child develops language skills long before being able to speak, the
child also develops literacy skills long before being able to read. What
parents do, or don't do, has a lasting impact on their child's reading skill
and literacy.
Children develop much of their capacity for learning in the first three
years of life, when their brains grow to 90% of their eventual adult weight.
When parents talk, sing, and read to their child, links among the child's
brain cells are strengthened and new cells and links are formed.
Play is the work of young children. From the first lullaby to
dramatization of a favorite story, music and other creative arts can
stimulate language and literacy development. Parents can help build
pre-literacy skills through dramatic play and one-on-one interaction.
Many pediatricians believe that a child who has never held a book or
listened to a story is not a fully healthy child. Reading aloud to young
children is so critical that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends
that doctors prescribe reading activities along with other advice given to
parents at regular check-ups.
Despite the considerable evidence of a relationship between reading
regularly to a child and that child's later reading development, six in ten
babies and five in ten toddlers are not read to regularly by parents or
family members.
Nurture Your Budding Reader: The Preschooler
Preschoolers with large vocabularies tend to become proficient readers.
Parents who talk and read with their children can greatly enhance their
vocabularies. The vocabulary of the average children's book is greater than
that found on prime-time television. Yet more than four in ten preschoolers
are not read to regularly.
Children ages 3 to 5 spend an average of 13 hours and 28 minutes a week
watching television. When children are plugged into television instead of
reading books, they are not developing key literacy skills that will prepare
them for school and help them learn.
The single most significant predictor of children's literacy is their
mother's literacy level. The more education a mother has, the more likely she
is to read to her child.
Some experts believe that for America's poorest children, the biggest
obstacle to literacy is the scarcity of books in many homes. And while books
are available at public libraries, only 37% of 3 to 5-year olds visit a
library at least once a month.
Ready to Read: Heading for the Classroom
Parents are truly their children's first and most important teachers. It is
clear that parents should not leave to schools alone the important tasks of
language and literacy development.
Reading to a child for 30 minutes per day from infancy helps prepare a
child to learn. A five-year old who has not been read to daily will enter
kindergarten with far fewer hours of "literacy nutrition" than a child who
has been read to daily from infancy. No teacher, no matter how talented, can
make up for those lost hours.
Parents who value reading are more likely to visit the library and give
books as gifts. Access to quality reading material should continue throughout
a child's school years. The NAEP 1998 Reading Report Card found that students
with higher reading scores were more likely to report four types of reading
material in their homes-encyclopedias, magazines, newspapers, and at least 25
books.
Parents cannot assume that schoolwork makes up for too much TV.
Children of all ages watch as much TV in one day as they read for fun in an
entire week. Overall, children under age 13 spend 90 minutes a day in front
of the TV-one-quarter of their free time.
Adults pass on to children their own expectations about education and
achievement, both positive and negative. Shared enthusiasm about books and
reading between a parent and child can deepen the child's interest in
learning to read. Children who learn from parents that reading is fun may be
more likely to sustain efforts to learn to read when the going gets tough.
Childrensbookstore.com is an online leader in children's books, literacy and
reading activities. Visit www.childrensbookstore.com today!
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