|
A:
Congratulations! Your son's love of books shows that you've already
taken some important steps in his education. Children who enjoy
books from an early age are most likely to be good readers later.
His interest in letters will also give him a boost in kindergarten.
Your child is well on his way to reading. Here are some ways to
build on your son's good start:
-
Listen for
letter sounds. Keep this activity fun and light. For
example, "Did you know baseball starts with 'B'? It makes the 'buh,
buh' sound. Can you think of anything else that makes that
sound?" Give him opportunities to show you what he can read.
Praise his progress. Help him sound out new words.
-
Point out the
difference between the printed words and the pictures when
you read to him. "Here are the words. We read them to know what
the story says. This is a picture. It shows us what the people
and places in the story look like."
-
Don't forget
the newspaper. The newspaper has every letter of the
alphabet in many sizes, typefaces and colors. It also has
interesting pictures. So give your son a marker and let him go
to work. Have him circle every "A," "B" or "Z" he finds. Before
long, he'll be circling small words. Then he'll start asking
you, "What does this say?"
-
Have
conversations with your son. In today's busy families,
exchanges are often brief: "Did you brush your teeth?" "Yes."
"OK, good." Try to fit in at least one longer talk each day. The
more your son listens to and uses language, the better he'll
become at reading.
[to top of second column]
 |
Finally, keep this checklist in mind:
_____ 1. My son sees me reading every day.
_____ 2. Our family makes regular trips to our local
library.
_____ 3. We have a regular reading time at our
house.
_____ 4. I set aside time to talk with my son about
what he's read.
_____ 5. I keep a variety of things to read around
the house.
If you can answer "yes" to each of these five
points, you're raising a reader!
For more information about helping
children learn, go to
http://www.parent-institute.com. To submit your own question,
use the form at
http://www.parent-institute.com/media/
howitworks.php. All questions will receive
a prompt answer by e-mail.
Copyright 2006, The Parent Institute
[Text from syndicated column
received from The Parent
Institute]
|
