Helping Kids Love To Read At Different Ages and Stages
We want to share a wonderful secret... Every time we share a story or a book, a game or song with a child, we have a chance to light a flame that will last a lifetime. A surefire way to entice kids to love books is to involve them with booktalking, book discussions, or peer recommendations -- the key word being involve.
Be animated.
Read each book to its fullest potential. Your voice and facial expressions give a book life. Make it an exciting one. Give kids the opportunity to have fun, don't insist they sit quietly or "pay attention" to every word. Create opportunities for activities by suggesting the children dance silently and freeze when you stop reading. This will mean they are listening to your words while they move around and it will make the reading activity fun.
Find points of contact (connections) between the child & the characters in the story.
Ask the child what they like about the characters as well as what they don't. "Do you have anything in common with him?" "Have you ever had that happen to you?" "Anyone you know?" "Did you notice you have a similar red sweatshirt to the little girl in this story." As children get older help them notice both similarities and differences between the characters and themselves. When we identify with characters or experiences, we can discover new things about ourselves or get new ideas about how we want to deal with situations we are facing.
Reading starts with babies!
With very young babies, what you read isn't nearly as important as that you're reading. Reading out loud to a newborn gives her time to listen to her favorite sound - your voice. And if you hold him warm and snug in your lap while the two of you share a book, he may just associate his happy feelings with reading for the rest of his life. Studies have shown that language skills -- and even intelligence -- can depend on a baby's daily exposure to a large vocabulary. Reading to kids is a fun, easy way to boost the number of words they hear and help them foster a love of literature and learning. Half of a child's brain development happens before age four.
- Make reading cuddle time. Hold your baby in your arms, on your lap or sitting next to you.
- Talk to baby. Tell her what you're doing at lunchtime or when you are changing his diaper. Point out racial cues as you walk ("Look at that little boy's beautiful brown skin!"). Use your normal voice and words. Babies understand more than you think.
- Sing. Try childhood favorites or make up your own about being a family, adoption, race, clulture, etc. Baby doesn't care if you have a good voice!
- Read to your baby each day. Mom, dad, grandparents, babysitters, older brothers and sisters can all enjoy this special activity. It's important to set the precedent now, snuggle time is reading time is together time - it feels good!
- Sign up for special "lap sit" story hours at your local library. They help parents share books with their babies and let you practice parenting in public.
- Don't forget to tell your own stories. It's never too early to share your experiences, love and values. Your history is as important as what is in the books.
Toddlers and preschoolers love to imagine.
Listen and learn. LISTEN to what your child says rather than FOR what you EXPECT him or her to say. Put the text and the discussion of it in context. Relate what you are reading together to other books, experiences, discussions, etc. Encourage kids to match their own created meanings against both the text and knowledge outside the text. Find ways to go beyond the text. Encourage further research, reading, writing, other creative activities that grow out of the interests and questions sparked by their reading.
Make reading an interactive experience. Bringing books alive and making reading an interactive experience ensures your child's interest life long. Create family reading time or book club to encourage discussion and find out what your older children are thinking. When something is fun, kids love to do it. Here are some tips to help make reading a valued and fun part of your life together. Let discussion build and change. Here is a perfect opportunity for you to take a glimpse into your children's minds.
Read a book about a baby being born or a child being adopted or a child who looks different than her parents or a child with two mothers or a child whose puppy dies or absolutely any issue you want to get a pulse on your child's feelings about. Read the book with the story or issue you chose with your child. After you have finished ask them if they would like to play a game of "pretend," where they act out the story or another story like it. Let kids act out what happened when they were born, or when the puppy died or when their parents look different and telling you the role they want you to play. Don't direct them or correct them if they get the story "wrong." When using make-believe as a book related activity, give the child the tools, costumes, props, and the scenario and then let them take off with it. Most children are much more proficient at pretending than adults are. They are in their element; it is usually adults who have to get out of the way and resist the temptation to direct. Often when children are pretending, we find out what they are thinking. And occasionally when they let us pretend along with them, we find out what they think about important subjects. Let your child be in charge. Sit back and enjoy observing and playing with your children. Pretending with them is one of the most entertaining pastimes you'll find and it can open up your insights into how they are actually thinking (rather than just how you might wish or hope or assume they are thinking.)
Early School Age
Ask questions that guide the reading-thinking process. Avoid personal questions like, "What would you do?" or "Have you been in a similar situation?" and instead inquire in ways that are open ended and require more reflection. "What did you already know?" "Expect?" "What do you now know?" "What do you still want to know?"
Encourage discussion. Begin with the text but recognize that comments will also refer to the self and to the world outside the text. Remember there are at least three levels on which the story or poem or writing can be explored. Try to help children answer all three kinds of questions for themselves. Encourage children to trust their own responses while respecting different responses from others.
- What does the text say? (On the lines)
- What does it mean? (Between the lines)
- What does it matter? (Beyond the Lines)
Helping young readers or almost readers to read.
- When children ask you to read their favorite books over and over again until they can 'read' it without your help, they begin to believe that they have the ability to read. And they do in a sense. What better way to encourage reading than to help them learn to 'read' the books they love? Actual reading will come in time, but this is a great beginning for any child!
- Point to the words on the page when you read. Move your finger from left to right.
- Pick a story or poem that repeats phrases. "Assign" your child a phrase to repeat each time you read a new part of the story.
- Encourage the child to act out the story.
Booktalking is a way to promote discussion with children about what they are reading - to get inside their thinking. Let the child fill in the blanks. Present a book by showing the cover. Based on the title and the cover, ask kids what they think this book might be about. After the child has shared ideas, read the first half of the book then ask her to think about what could happen next and how the story could end.
Talk about the story. Stop at "cliff-hanger" pages and ask children what they think will come next. Talk about how the characters feel or why they are acting a certain way. Use books to discuss your own opinions on topics like anger, selfishness, greed, laziness, being polite, kindness, etc. For example, this dog is really scared isn't he? What happened to him because of it? Or, Cinderella's stepmother wasn't very kind, was she? And so on.
Activities after reading a book can help to stretch thinking and the impact of a book. When you finish reading a book, ask the child to close their eyes and picture something that reminds them of the story. They can think about one of the pictures they saw, or they may imagine their own pictures in their minds. Ask them to draw whatever they picture in their heads and be sure to hang these drawings up later. Create a play or skit acting out some of what happened in a story or what happened after the story ends. Make the food described in the text or do the activity that the characters did. Early school age children need to do things to have concepts and ideas brought alive. The goal is to keep them talking so you and they can better understand their feelings.
Preteens and Teens
- Keep reading together. Set up a family reading night or family reading time each night. Everyone can read a different book but be in the same room and make reading a family activity.
- Read some books out loud to your child. Or to each other. This can still be fun and is especially good for kids who don't love to read themselves (or are struggling to read or have learning differences.) Books can still be something these kids love if they associate books with good stories and family time rather than struggling in school. Be sure to read books that are fun and different from their school fare.
- Have family book club, or mother-daughter or son or father-daughter or son book clubs. Let your child choose a book they have really wanted to read or have already read and read it yourself. Pick a special place or time to go out or stay in together and talk about the book, what you learned, what you liked. Be careful not to be too shocked or preachy about their choices, remember the goal is to connect and create conversations and keep them reading and engaged with books and you.
- Ask them to write a book review of a book about adoption or race or family diversity that focuses on a topic you feel it is important for them to explore. Many adoption groups are thrilled to receive and publish in their newsletters such things from teens and Pact always invites submissions for young authors. This is a great way for them to find their own voice.
- Hold family reading night. Encourage your kids to present their raps, poetry or short stories by reading them to the rest of you. This should always involve lots of clapping and celebration and probably junk food as well. Help them recognize their own potential as writer/creator in the safety and context of your family home.
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