Preschool Reading Success in Just 5 Minutes a Day (2 page)

Firstly, all parents and caregivers must
realize that a child needs to hear many words lovingly directed at him or her
from birth on, even though at first he will not understand them. Speaking to a
baby and happily acknowledging his existence in a very warm, gentle, and loving
way needs to be established from the very beginning. This is the foundation for
future reading. How? They need to hear happy and loving positive conversation
directed to them so that they hear many words that will become familiar to
them. Sadly, many small children are ignored, tolerated or simply left alone.
We cannot do that. Show your child the natural world as you would imagine
indigenous people would show the living world to their offspring. Before 1 year
old, show her, touch it, name it, let her point to it as you name and admire
the trees, bushes, bugs, flowers, the sky, airplanes, birds, ants, dogs etc. 
Be excited and involved in the moment. No, you don’t have to do this every
moment. But show her your own enthusiasm as you rediscover life through her
eyes. Having her point seems to focus her attention.” Do you see that bird?
What is he doing? Is he flying high in the blue sky, or sitting in the tree?
Where is his nest? It is probably in the tree over there. I wonder where his
children are. If you can manage to have a bird feeder with bird seed from the
supermarket within easy view, this is a fabulous thing for a very young child
to watch. This idea brings great excitement. What else can you both focus on as
you encourage emotional and verbal interaction? “Look at the beautiful
flowers.” Go from house to house as you walk along or push them in a stroller,
and point these out. Don't bring your babe into an outdoor environment without
commenting on what is going on in it. Verbalize what you see. “Where's the dog?
Do you hear it barking? What color is he? Is he white, brown, or black? Look at
the children over there. What are they doing? Let us go to the park. Do you want
to go on the swings, the monkey bars or the slide? Look at the airplane high up
in the sky. I wonder where they are going” Do you see that speech directed to
them is the basis of reading? A child slowly becomes comfortable with language
and familiar with many words through much loving repetition, and puts together
these outdoor experiences (birds, flowers, dogs, airplanes etc.) with the
pictures in the books, magazines and on cereal boxes that they have at home
(which you will point out.) All of this is a fun and very rewarding way to be
with your child at this early stage of his educational development.

Babies and very young children are little
trusting sponges who absorb far more than parents or caregivers realize. Recent
studies have confirmed that a parent's poor use of vocabulary through the first
36 months of a child's life can have a dramatic and negative impact on a
child's intellectual future. Children who have limited exposure to the spoken
word have greater difficulty in learning to read. Small children need far more
than custodial care with the TV on all day. They need love most of all,
attention, validation, acknowledgment and respect. Listen to them as though
they matter. Take their comments seriously. It is said that if a mother is
trapped in poverty or is overwhelmed by financial and emotional stress, that
she is less likely to speak to her very young children in a positive manner.
Understandably as parents, we can all relate to that, but perhaps consciously
recognizing this point will be helpful to parents or caregivers as they view
the importance of speaking and reading out loud to their children.

Recently my adult daughter's friend was at
our house with her 8 mo. old son. I spoke directly to Eric for a few moments.
He was completely in the moment and stared at me as I spoke to him in a quietly
animated manner. I told him "that Thanksgiving was coming and wait until
you wrap your gums around some pumpkin pie... oh boy...And I imagine that your
Grandmother makes wonderful stuffing and mashed potatoes with gravy.... oh yes,
yes, and just wait until you taste cranberries with the turkey...ooh yum… And
Christmas comes after Thanksgiving with Santa Claus, presents and a Christmas
tree. You will love this etc. etc." He was transfixed as I held him, and
spoke directly to him. I spoke to him as though I expected him to say something
back, and it seemed as though he wished that he could. This is the type of
chatter I am discussing. No, he didn't know what I was saying, but he was
witnessing language, and there was something very positive going on with his
cognitive skills. Everyone in the room could see it. On the way home from our
house and since then, his Mother, said that he is babbling more. Yes, he is
imitating language in his beginning ways, and this is his foundation for
reading. A Mother’s, Father’s or caretaker's familiarity with speech and verbal
response is very important. Please keep the chatter going in a positive, happy,
and loving manner.

Read out loud to your children. I remember Tom Selleck reading a sports article
to the baby in the movie, "Three Men and A Baby." He had just the
right tone in his voice and the right body language as he directed his eyes to
the baby's eyes while reading to her. You know that you are connecting when the
baby watches you intently. New pathways to the brain are being developed and
their cognitive abilities are growing. Research has proven that a child's first
years are critical to language development. Never speak down to children in
words or in attitude even as babies. This is so important. Respect their
intellectual growth and awareness as you surround them with many loving words.
Watch as they listen with their bright eyes and be amazed with your facial
expressions as they grasp the means of communication.

Children love to have their own books, and
to be able to read by themselves.  Reading will connect them to experiences
beyond their own lives, and will create the future direction for their
schooling years. When you go to the library for baby and toddler books, maybe
you could pick up a book for yourself. Let them watch you as you model reading
to them. They will understand by your example that reading a newspaper,
magazine or book is an activity of great value. And now of course there are
KINDLES for children, but holding a real book is the best.

Start teaching them the names of the
letters around 2 years old. Sing the ABC song to them. NAMING the letters is
altogether different than the sounds that they make. This comes later. There
are letter stickers that make this fun, and you can draw them on paper or a
blackboard. As you draw a D for example say, here is a stick with a big bump
also say let’s color this D together. Each letter that I describe will be
explained in a toddler friendly way. They will remember these letters. All of
this is interactive and not just plugging your babe into a DVD or a TV show.

Literacy is now seen as a civil right, but
working with language and reading in the home is a parent's responsibility. 
Much is at stake with a child’s education, and no government or school program
can have as much influence as the parent, grandparent or caregiver teaching
them. We are responsible for our children’s’ future, and early vocabulary and
reading skills are profound in their ramifications. The early ability to read
will give them an enormous sense of self-esteem and confidence as they excel in
kindergarten, as well as the first and second grades and beyond.  School will
become fun, and they will look forward to going as they are already familiar
and successful with this first big hurdle.  A child needs to be positively
clicked into a happy way of living and behaving, and by using some of these
following happy and energetic words and phrases, this wonderful attitude along
with reading skills will be achieved. These early years are the perfect time to
introduce reading into their lives. They want to be around you, and they want
your attention. In a few years, they will want to be outside and running. Now
is the perfect time.

Our children are being exposed to a
profound change in access to information both good and bad. They must be taught
to use the internet to a positive result. For older children reading books for
fun is changing to reading on the internet. Cultural changes are shifting now,
but the fun, comfort and love of snuggling up with a good book with your
toddler will never change.

The first steps are visual and interactive.
By this, I mean that you will draw each capital and lower case letter one at a
time in a very appealing and child friendly manner that I will describe. Your
child will watch as you carefully draw and name each letter.

The second step is verbal. As you name each
letter, have her repeat the name of the letter back to you. Then you will sound
out the "noise" that each letter makes. You will catch on to these
steps quickly. I will give you the basic sounds as well as the word examples
that will illustrate each "noise." Make sure again that she repeats
the name of the letter and the "noise" each letter makes, back to
you. There will be a lot of back and forth conversation and responses.  I need
to emphasize again that the NAME of a letter is altogether different from the
NOISE that each letter makes. You must make this very clear to her. Have her
repeat both the name and the "noise" a letter makes until she is very
confident in doing so. Take your time as there is no hurry. Also have her
repeat back some of the words that demonstrate the initial sounds that you are
teaching: the more fun and sillier the word the better. TAKE NOTE OF THE WORDS
THAT SHE THINKS ARE PARTICULARLY FUNNY, SILLY OR HAS SOME MEANINGFUL CONNECTION
WITH HER LIFE. I have many words from which to choose. Repeat these often as
you emphasize their sound. This is very important as she will be more likely to
remember the sound you are teaching when it is associated with something that
gets her attention, and which her makes her laugh and be happy. When she
repeats back the correct sound and the corresponding words,

you must engage her with many hugs, kisses,
smiles, laughter, and true admiration. Bring her stuffed animal into these
activities that will smother her in kisses as you press its furry face into her
neck and cheeks. It is PARTY TIME when correct responses are given!! The
expectation that if she correctly repeats the sound back to you, she will have
a fabulous, fun, and very motivating pay-off is a great incentive for wanting
more. Start using some of the fun examples that I have included. Excitement
starts for both of you as you say and demonstrate each initial sound using the
fun, silly and familiar examples for each letter that I will provide in the
following pages. Come on now…this isn’t work…FIVE minutes a day is all that you
will need.

With a child as young as 2 ½ to 3 years old
just dive in. The best way to set up is with a large bean bag placed in front
of a chalk board. Or alternatively have pillows piled up on the floor in front
of a chalk board. Or simply have both of you sit on the couch with a notebook
size piece of paper or colored paper would be nice in order to grab their
attention...whatever is convenient and realistic for you. The manner that you
use isn't as important as the fun, good humor and enthusiasm that you will
bring to all of this.

Draw and name one letter at a time until
she thoroughly understands it. Slowly and very carefully draw the capital
letter and then the lower case letter. Call the capital letter the big Daddy
letter, and the lower case the little boy/girl letter. Let her color the letter
that you have drawn.

Be very casual with absolutely no pressure
in your voice or manner. I will provide a few silly comments and you will think
of some on your own. They will be intent on what you are doing if you make it
fun for them. Use several words and phrases from the samples of child friendly
words and phrases that I will give you including words for animals, food,
colors, funny names, and a wide variety of other words. Please choose words
that you are certain that your child recognizes as well as a few that she
doesn't know so as to enlarge her vocabulary. Use especially funny and familiar
words to her. This silliness holds their attention. Yes, we know that their
attention span is short, so catch their attention with fun words including
family names, names of animals stuffed and real, and names of dolls, favorite
foods and toys. You will notice that there is a zone...a place that captures
their attention. Find it.

After you have taught one or two letters or
more a week, go about your day leaving the chalkboard or paper behind. Start
on-going happy and upbeat chatter using the words in these pages while
emphasizing the sounds/noises. Glance at these pages for inspiration. Sometimes
it is hard to think of the appropriate words for each letter that your child
will understand, so I have included many examples. The best words are the fun
words that will make them laugh, be alert and create an energy that will
inspire them to want more.  Find this happy and energetic groove. Keep having him
repeat back to you the sound you are learning at the moment.

You will be introducing a few words to him
that he doesn't know. Tell them the meaning. This is wonderful as he is
expanding his vocabulary. Look at pictures in books every day. Comment on the
pictures with words that start with the sounds he is learning. A child needs to
know what a penguin is before he could possibly know how to read the word,
penguin. Cereal boxes are a great place to look at letters and silly words.

Children are very curious, receptive and
love to learn. In this process of language and reading development, a new joy
and bonding will happen between you two. This is one of the side benefits you
will experience as you more deeply connect with your daughter or son. As you go
through the letters in the following pages, she will learn to read slowly,
naturally and easily, and with NO stress or pushing. The approach that I am
advocating is one of relaxation and fun with much repetition. I taught my
children in this vein, and then let them play and enjoy being children. They
moved into elementary school work very easily and successfully with a great
background in reading comprehension, and this program greatly enlarged their
vision of life. They loved school because they had such early successes in
reading, and their teachers were absolutely amazed with them. I never told the
teachers that I had easily taught them to read at home. I let them believe that
my guys were just smart, and that they were excellent teachers. I later
sometimes wondered if the teachers treated them differently because they were
so successfully responsive with this first challenge of reading. Maybe they
thought that they were such good teachers that this must be the outcome of
their marvelous efforts, but it created a self-fulfilling prophesy for their
educational future. In any event, our children had nothing but great success in
the early grades of elementary school, and throughout all of their education. I
believe that this reading program formed a great foundation for all of their
schooling years yet to come, and did wonders for their attitudes about school. 
They were winners before they even set foot in the classroom.