Read, Read, Read

When I was growing up I remember my mother and father reading. We would go to the grocery store and my mom would always pick up a copy of Women's World at the check out counter. As for my father, I think he has every copy of the Louis L' Amour books ever written. I remember him going to small book stores in the middle of Downtown Los Angeles trying to find some of these old books. That habit, of course, boiled over into my life and I am an avid reading. I can't say that I was top in the class growing up, but it did instill the importance of education and learning in my life. When first child was three years old and was reading at a beginning first grade level. I would tell people and they would be so impressed with his reading skills, while I didn't see anything extraordinary. He had enjoyed reading books at a young age. When I was reading my books, he would get a book and lay down next to me. Soon he started to question what the marks on the pages where and had a continuing interest in learning. It was around his 3rd Birthday that he was able to recognize about 50 different sight words and knew almost all the sounds of each letter. Showing children the importance of reading at a young age will set the foundation for their education the rest of their life. The First Step in Reading towards Helping Your Student Succeed is to Develop GREAT Reading Skills. This is the most important teaching tool you can give your student. Since that is the case, this will be the LONGEST chapter in the book. In order to crack the parental code, the parent needs to read to their student daily. Whether it is the parent reading a book in front of their children or the parent is actually picking up a small book and reading to their children, the parent has to place a strong emphasis on reading being fun! When speaking with a veteran father about the importance of making something fun he depicted a story about how, as a parent, you made things fun. He went on to explain that he owned a Valet Parking Service and would often bring his older children with him to help direct the cars into the parking lot. All of his children enjoyed helping their dad work, but LOVED to help him Valet Park cars when it was raining. This father explained that parking cars in the rain was not a fun thing. It was cold and you would get really wet, but his kids still loved to work with their father when it was raining. His secret was showing the children both verbally and physically that it was fun. Teaching your children that something is fun really depends on the presentation set forth by parents. I did speak with his older children about this matter, and they did indeed still love to Valet Park cars in the rain. What is the moral of this story? You, the parent, are responsible for setting your child's attitude towards reading. Reading is the first step in building forming a foundation in a child's academic career. In order to raise an extraordinary student, the parent has to read, read, and read to that child. Heidi, mother of 4, was reading to her oldest daughter when she turned and noticed that her infant daughter was carefully watching what she was doing. Heidi could see in her young daughters eyes that she liked what was being read. Though the words probably didn't make any sense, the impact of hearing the mothers voice will place an imprint in the mind of the child. Starting at a very early age, reading to your children can have an impact on their academic success. "Language is the most utilized form of communication. Children who are introduced to books at an early age are more prone to grasp the variances in phonics, which in turn affects their language skills and cognitive abilities. Studies indicate that children's familiarity with books is taught by their mothers who tend to typically be the main care giver of a child" (Importance of Reading, 2005). It really doesn't matter who the typical caregiver is as long as parents are placing a heavy emphasis on their children being read to on a daily basis. Heidi youngest daughter is now in kindergarten reading at a second grade level.