Reading Success Begins in the Preschool Years
As a teacher, I have been asked by preschool parents how they
can help their preschool child be successful in school.
Certainly reading to your child is an important step but there
are other activities that can enhance even further success.
Parents can promote even greater reading success by modeling the
reading process. Occasionally, point to the words as you are
reading to your child. This teaches your child that print moves
from left to right, from top to bottom and how words are
separated by spaces.
The best books are those that are predictable and repetitive.
The story line follows a repetitive pattern. These types of
books are called emergent readers. An example of a pattern is: I
see a bear. I see a duck. Your child can begin reading these
books on their own because they are highly predictable. We call
this pretend reading because they are not really reading the
book yet. This is an important step because it allows your
preschooler view themselves as a reader and this initiates a
positive attitude towards it. Occasionally, read rhyming books
with your child. Research has shown that children understanding
rhyme at any early age have a better understanding of how
language works and this promotes more success in reading. Dr.
Seuss books and nursery rhymes are a great resource for this.
Interactive reproducible books are an inexpensive and effective
way to introduce children to the reading process. These type of
books are often reproduced by teachers and used in the
classroom. They are in black and white format so they can be
copied and stapled together and this allows every child in the
classroom to have one. The beauty of these books is that they
are inexpensive and children can color and practice other
learning skills within the content of the book. Samples of these
types of books are found on my website.
There are a number of strrategies that a parent can employ that
will encourage a child to start reading on their own. At this
age this is called pretend reading because they are not really
reading at this point.
One strategy is called echo reading. The parent reads a line and
the child repeats that line. The parent should try to encourage
their child to touch the words while reading. Initially, you
might have to hold their hand to help them understand this
concept.
Another strategy is called choral reading. In choral reading
the child reads the line at the same time as the parent. Once
again, encourage your child to touch the words as they read.
The final strategy is called fill in the blank. The parent reads
a line and leaves out a key word for the child to read. This
works great when reading rhyming stories. The child is to finish
the sentence with the word that rhymes.
The website provides many resources and other strategies that
you can employ with your preschooler. Visit the website at
http://www.kinderplans.com