[Image: Reading to your child]Child Care Corner
January 2009
Submitted By - Jane B. Jones
Extension Agent (Family and Consumer Science)
LSU AgCenter
One of the best things you can do for a small child is to spend time reading aloud to him/her. Young children love to spend time cuddled up with an adult reading an exciting book. Reading aloud promotes literacy as a source of enjoyment, and it helps children gain knowledge of print. It helps them make the connection that letters are grouped to form words, and it promotes phonological awareness.
To make the experience more memorable, choose a book that you like and is of interest to the child. Choose a book that is developmentally appropriate and has a story and illustrations that are relevant.
Give the child a reason to listen to the book. To be even more effective, practice reading the book beforehand. While reading, use strategies that hold the child’s attention such as voice and facial expressions that make the characters come alive. Hold the book so that the child can see the pictures as you read. Stop and talk about the pictures. Answer any questions the child may have that are related to the book. Save other questions for later. Discuss what might happen next or what the characters might be feeling.
Run your finger under the text and pause at the end of sentences. Invite the child to join in with repeated and predictable words, phrases and rhymes.
Discuss interesting words and ask the child what they think it means. Repeat words that rhyme or have sounds like those found in other words the child knows.
After reading, ask the child to react or share his/her opinion of the story. Briefly summarize the story (characters, setting, theme, plot and resolution). Continue to help the child make connections between the story events or characters and his/her own life. Discuss or clarify new words introduced in the story. Finally, do a follow-up activity. For example, after reading a book about a tiger, make a trip to the zoo to see a real tiger, provide crayons or markers and a blank sheet of paper to draw a tiger and encourage him/her to mimic tiger sounds.
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