Library Day – How to Get Your Kid’s Nose Stuck Inside a Book

June 16, 2015 Off By Lisa

It’s library day again!

For the last several weeks, I’ve been running book and reading-related posts on the blog on Tuesdays. So far you’ve seen some book reviews, author interviews, my personal musings, and more. This week I’m bringing you a guest post from a blogger friend many of you already know, Val Newman of My Virtual Vineyard.  

Val’s here today to talk about literacy. Literacy is such a buzzword in the world of education, but it is truly an important topic. The subject of literacy is so important to me I spent a significant portion of my graduate studies on it.

Summer reading season is upon us, friends. Whether those words instill joy or dread in your child, Val offers tips and wisdom from her years of experience that will help get even the most reluctant reader’s nose stuck inside a book. 

Welcome, Val!

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Literacy OutdoorsA few things have led me to share information about summer reading for young children from my perspective as an early childhood educator and an avid reader.

Lisa wrote a very inspiring post, entitled, The Importance of Talking About Reading. She has instituted a love of reading in her daughter, Zilla, and Zilla reads for pleasure and by choice.

Parents of students I taught in preschool have posted dreaded summer reading lists for middle school and high school students. Killing the love of reading in 0-60.

As an adult, the best part of my summer is spending time at the beach and reading, reading, reading. Getting into those long reads that are just a little too much during the school year when the only reading time is that ten minutes before nodding off to sleep at night.

It’s important to make summer reading fun for kids, too. Building a fun summer reading environment at home can help ease the transition from want to read to have to read, by opening brain channels and developing emotional attachments to books and reading.

Every parent of a young child is a fan of the “bedtime” story. Everyone relaxes, and it signifies the transition between awake and asleep. The sort of reading plan I will outline below, is in addition to this cozy, comfy parent/child time.

Establish a D.E.A.R Time.

Choose a time during the day that works best for you, maybe early morning or that 3-4:00 down time of the day. Select a finite amount of time, depending on the age of the child and designate DEAR time. For working parents, after dinner may be the best time.

Literacy 1

You read to them or they read to you, or they read on their own and you read on your own. It is important that you, the parent, participate in DEAR time so the child recognizes this as a special time. Not just a time for the child to be quiet while you do other things.

Choose a place for DEAR time.  Change the places around day by day. Build an indoor tent or clubhouse with blankets chairs and tables and have DEAR time inside. Make a block structure to delineate the reading space for the day. Bring a blanket and some pillows in a shady spot in the yard for DEAR time outside. A park, a beach, the library – anyplace where you can spend attentive time reading together.

Be Involved in What Your Child Is Reading

Literacy

You can help make books and stories come alive to your children by supplementing the information in the book.  For example, if your child is reading about a story about fish, take her to the Aquarium. If your child is reading about fire trucks, take him to the Fire Station. Then help your child make connections between what they are reading and the cultural experience – a museum perhaps, or a park or business. Colonial America came alive to me as a child when we visited an exhibit at the Museum of Natural History. A child exposed to outside cultural activities in conjunction with early literacy has a greater opportunity for educational success.(1)

Craft projects which extend the story can enhance comprehension. Drawing or painting pictures, simple puppets for retelling and acting out the story; a Lego representation of a spaceship, perhaps, a pretend pet shop or farm can enrich the reading experience. For older children story maps or posters might be fun.

Make It Fun

If you are reading aloud to your child, use a different voice for each character, ham it up, and be dramatic as possible to convey meaning and enjoyment. If the text is rhyming, or repetitive, make sure to provide the proper rhythm. Use appropriate props while reading the story. Let your child participate with the repetitive text or manipulate the props. The more senses you can involve in the reading experience, the more impact it will have on your child. Cook a character’s favorite food.

literacy playing with blocks

My personal picks:

Any books by:

  • Eric Carle
  • Lois Ehlert
  • Pat Hutchins
  • Mo Willems
  • Laura Numeroff
  • David Shannon
  • Cynthia Rylant
  • The Biscuit Series
  • The Magic School Bus Series
  • Random House step level readers
  • And the list goes on.

Ms. Val
Valerie Newman, known to her many students as Ms. Val, is a retired preschool/elementary teacher with vast experience in literacy development for young children. As a writer, blogger at myvirtualvineyard.com, and would-be novelist, she enjoys photography, reading, cooking, beach-combing, and learning new things. She is the mother of two adult children and wife of 30 years to Tim. You can connect with her Facebook page, Twitter, and Pinterest.

 

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Linking up with Literacy Musing Mondays today via Mary Hill at Mary-andering Creatively. Click over and check out some more great book and literacy-related posts there!

Literacy-Musing-Mondays-300x300Ashley-from-www.circlingthestory.com_-300x300