Ten Wildly Happy Minutes

December 13, 2012

Mem Fox, author of Reading Magic, has said to parents, "Spend at least ten wildly happy minutes every single day reading aloud!" Having positive experiences with books is one of the first steps in a child’s life toward a love of reading. Learning becomes easy and natural when children are engaged and having fun.

Here are six playful and simple ways to prepare your child to become a reader:

• Tell stories about everything. Ask your child about her day. Have your child draw a picture. Then, let her tell you what is happening in the picture. Write her words on the picture.
• Look for letters everywhere. Make letter shapes and letters out of clay, in shaving cream, or finger paint. Make a letter collage; cut out a large letter from cardboard or tag board. Younger children can glue anything onto the letter. Older children can look for pictures of words that start with the letter sound.
• Take time to rhyme. Play word games that change the first sounds in words. "What word would ‘book’ be if we took off the ‘buh’ sound and made it a ‘puh’ sound? Pook!" Sing nursery rhymes with your child. "Willowby Walloby Woo, an elephant sat on you. Willowby Walloby Wake, an elephant sat on Jake."
• Notice print all around you. Let children help read recipes as you cook or bake. Let them make a picture recipe. Let children help you make a shopping list. Match the words on your list to those on the products. Use puzzles that have pictures with letters or words.
• Talk, Talk, Talk. Talk about the pictures in books and let your child identify things you see. Introduce new words and explain their meanings, rather than substituting with familiar words.
• Have fun with books. Get a free library card and visit the Library regularly. Take books wherever you go: doctor’s office, in the car, at the grocery store. Give books as gifts.

Helping your child develop these six skills will help him get ready to read by age six. Follow the link here for more information about the 6 by 6 early literacy program.

You are your child’s first teacher. Have fun helping your child learn!

~Sandi V.
Parkville Branch