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Some tips when reading a love2read book with your child |
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Children from the age of 6 months enjoy looking at photos of familiar objects, places or people and sharing a book with an adult .They need to experience the pleasure of listening to and looking at lots of books before they are ready to start reading for themselves.
The New Department for Children, Schools and Families states “reading is about children understanding and enjoying stories, books and rhymes, recognising that print carries meaning and reading a range of familiar words and simple sentences.”
When they first want to “have a go” (my own children were 2 ½), give them lots of praise and encouragement. You may think they are just ‘remembering’ the words and ‘not really reading them’. Yet this is one of the most important early stages of reading.
love2read books have a structure similar to early reading scheme books, which are very repetitive and use key words. Pre-school children who have learnt some of the key words will have a real head start when they go to school.
Here are a few ideas on how to share a love2read book with your child:
- Before you read the words encourage your child to make comments and point out things in the photos, this will help to increase their vocabulary and also help them develop the important skill of looking for picture cues in other books.
- Speak clearly and follow the words with your finger, encourage your child to do the same as they grow in confidence. When your child is familiar with the book you can start to leave words out and see if your child can remember/read them. If they get it right give them lots of praise….” You can read that word, you are clever!” As they gain in confidence they are more likely to pick up the book again and “have another go” at reading!
- As they remember the words and try to read the book themselves ensure that your child says one word when they point to one word. Every child is different but most children don’t do this at first. My youngest son used to point at the pictures and say the words, when he realised the black squiggly things at the bottom of the page were the words he would point several times in the same place or run his finger very quickly across the page…eventually following my example he realised one word said one thing and was able to point to one word and say one word.
- The ‘Can you read these words?’ page has been designed to encourage your child to recognise the high frequency words in the book. To start with point to one of the words and see if your child can find one that looks the same. Remember lots of praise if they get it right, if they don’t know tell them what it says and gently encourage them to have another go.
- The photo page at the end of the book is there to encourage discussion, use this as an opportunity to talk about the photos you have chosen. Talking with your child is one of the best ways to develop your child’s vocabulary and also improve the structure of their spoken language.
My children soon started to pick up their photobooks for themselves. I even caught my son reading his books to his teddy, at the age of two!
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