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Books! A habit worth having

Children who are better readers at school are used to a home environment where reading is an everyday activity. We show you how to make reading a part of their world……

Even from the moment they can hold things in their hands, babies will enjoy looking at books, turning the pages ‘playing with them’. They enjoy the comfort associated with reading; sitting on your lap, cuddling in for a story, listening to changes in your voice as you read to them. But don’t think you always have to be involved – books are the perfect thing for older babies to pick up on their own and enjoy looking at and this should be encouraged.

 

Your younger toddler will be fascinated by any book that relates to his experiences, so look for books that relates to his experiences, so look for books that reflect his world; ones with photos of toys, foods and other children are especially good. These will give you the chance to chat about the story. Say things like: ‘You’ve got a teddy like that, haven’t you?’ to encourage speech development.   Even if he doesn’t say many words, such discussions will add to the mental store of words he’s building. Books with pull-tabs, flaps and peepholes are a good way of encouraging his involvement in the book and by doing so he’ll be learning invaluable pre-reading skills:

  • How to hold a book
  • How the cover differs from the inside
  •  How to keep the book still to ‘read’ it
  • How a book works – from front to back

Make storytime fun!

Turn story sessions into a fun experience by using lots of expression in your voice – don’t feel embarrassed about exaggerating your facial expressions and body language to act out the story or nursery rhyme. Emphasise rhymes and alliteration and put on different voices for different characters – The famous ‘Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum’ line from Jack and the Beanstalk doesn’t sound quite so impressive if you say it in your normal voice.
 
Keep reading sessions short, as your toddler’s attention span is very limited, but try to read every day. 
 

As your growing toddler develops a greater interest in books, have a selection of them placed at a level he can easily see and reach. Letting him choose what book you read together will only increase his confidence. But don’t worry if your child chooses the same bedtime story over and over again. Although it may drive you mad, it can help his listening skills – and he’ll love catching you out when you miss out a word! In fact, reading researchers have found that having a favourite book at aged three can be a significant factor in later reading success.

He’s never too young to join your local library. Try to go regularly and give him plenty of time to look at the books on display. Your child will also enjoy the grown-up feeling he has when returning books and being able to choose his own books. Many libraries often run story-time sessions and take advantage of any activities going on at the library, such as story-time sessions.

Pre-reading skills

Knowing how books work is an important part of learning to read. Children need to learn that the story won’t happen if they just choose words random from the page. They learn that books are read from left to right, at the top of the page and running across and down.
 
When your child is small, sit him on your lap while you look at books together. Make sure your child can see the pictures as you read to him. Small children start to interpret the sequence of stories through the illustrations well before they can read the words. Even for a beginner reader, the details in the pictures give an extra dimension to the words, ‘colouring in’ details, like the sort of clothes a character wears. Let him set the pace, stopping to talk about the pictures and story if he wants to.
 
As he gets older, encourage him to wait until you have finished reading each page before turning, but if his attention wanders, try condensing what’s written into one sentence.
 

A big step towards eventual reading is understanding the difference between pictures and words. At first words will just be black squiggles, but explain that as he learns to read, the ‘squiggles’ will become words that tell him the story, too. This is a good time to pay more attention to the words, following them with your finger as your read. Books that are repetitive are good in encouraging her to guess what will come next – the Three Little Pigs is an excellent example.

Language development

Children need a bank of vocabulary before they can really enjoy reading as they can only understand words in print if they have already met them in speech. The more words they know, the easier they will find reading. Talk ’around’ the book you’re reading together. If he already knows the story, ask him if he remembers what it’s about before you read it and afterwards encourage him to chat about the story and relate it to his own experiences. Use words like ‘cover’, ‘title’, ‘author’ and ‘illustrator’ – point them out in the book and explain what they mean.

 

Try to establish a ‘book at bedtime’ routine. This should be a cosy, quiet time for both of you at the end of a busy day. If you have more than one child, try to give each the treat of their own bedtime story, even if they enjoy joint sessions at other times. Don’t keep books just for bedtime, tough. Make them part of your daily routine, keep some in the car and in various rooms in the house.

There is no standard age at which all children are ready both emotionally and physically to read, but there is a stage known by educationalists as ‘readiness for reading’, which takes account of several factors, if, when well developed in your child, can show he is ready to start reading for himself.
As your child starts to learn to read he will use the pictures together with the text to understand the story. Books with repetitive text are good to start with. As his reading develops, the illustrations become more part of the overall enjoyment of the book and less of a learning tool.
 
Explore as wide a range of books as you can with your child. Give him a chance to develop his tastes by exposing him to different types of stories, such as realism, fantasy, poetry, rhyme and non-fiction and so keeping him interested in books that interest him.
 
As your child develops his own reading skills you should introduce him to encyclopaedias’ and reference books. Get him to look up a topic in the index at the back ad show how to find the information he wants. This may take him time to do, but don’t hurry him or take over from him- you’ll only be underlining the fact that this is a fairly tricky skill to master. Store your child’s books so they’re accessible to him. They’re unlikely to attract his attention if they’re packed high on a shelf with only the spines visible. Display them on a low shelf or even on the floor so he can flick through them and see the covers.

 Is he ready to read?

Look out for these pre-reading skills which show he may be ready to branch out on his own.

  • He can retell a familiar story in his own words
  • He can predict what might happen next in an unfamiliar story
  • He uses illustrations to tell you what is happening
  • He notices differences between similar pictures and shapes and can pick out identical ones.
  • If you point out a distinctive word (such as a character’s name) on one page, he can find the same word on another page
  • He can read his own name and other familiar words
  • He knows letter sounds and names and has good phonic awareness

Once he's reading...

Respect your child’s choice of books. Try not to say ‘Not that book again … ‘and be ready to discuss his book with him.

  • Don’t react quickly to mistakes. Give him a chance to correct himself before offering to help.
  • Always praise his reading efforts.
  • Understand when your child prefers simpler, younger books. We oftern read to relax, and it’s important that not all reading material is ‘challenging’.
  • Carry on reading to your child, even once he’s started reading books for himself.

A world of words

Encouraging your child’s reading is the most important thing you ca do for an early reader. He may be feeling pressure that his reading doesn’t compare to his classmates’ or siblings’. Giving him plenty of praise for his efforts is a great help. You may feel concerned about his reading level, but rather than making him feel anxious by doing a set ‘reading practice’ for a specific length of time each day, just encourage his awareness of words in the everyday world. Get him to read any letters that come home with him from school while getting his tea ready, rather than keeping them to read yourself, later; cereal packets with their ‘free offers’ are great source of reading material, as are shop signs, supermarket shelf tickets –the world of words is endless.

Now take a look at our online shop to see some of the fantastic new books that we have for you: