Literacy is one of those essential parenting topics that we all want to get “right.” We want to engage our children early and often wonder if they are “on track” for letter recognition and vocabulary. We find ourselves asking:
- When should I introduce reading?
- What if my child doesn’t sit for story time?
- Are there certain books we should be reading?
- When should my child start reading?
- What are the best literacy resources?
- Is my child behind verbally?
These are all great questions. While there are definitely some terrific common suggestions for introducing your children to reading, such as,
- Start early
- Make reading a habit
- Bring your child to the library
- Encourage their interests
- Use a variety of vocabulary words
- Help them identify words around them
it is also important to note that there is no one “right” path to literacy for all children. Looking at my 3 children, currently in different developmental stages, I’ve come to appreciate how they all approach reading in a unique way. No one approach is perfect, but their interest in exploring letters, words, and vocabulary is growing, each at their own individual pace.
The Natural Reader
It’s hard to remember a time when Ella couldn’t read. We would soothe her with the calm words of a good book during infancy and, once she became mobile, she’d often bring us a story to read aloud. Learning letters meant reading stories to Ella. Writing words meant creating her own adventure. Today, at eight, it’s common to find her bed piled with books in progress. The 15 minutes assigned for reading each day in 3rd grade is never questioned and she has notebooks filled with stories in progress. For Ella, a book is a getaway, an adventure, an escape into her imagination.
The Practical Reader
Books never held quite the same allure for Ezra, now five. He would sit through a story as a toddler, especially if it revolved around a character or subject he enjoyed, such as Curious George or different styles of trucks. For Ezra, however, reading really came alive with a desire to interact with the world around him. What did the dialogue say in his favorite video game? What was that road sign telling us? How do words fit into or daily lives?
Ezra has comfortably identified letters for quite some time now, but it took Kindergarten to increase his enthusiasm for reading. His homework has centered on matching sounds with letters, which has improved his confidence. Tim introduced Ezra to the Bob Books a few days ago and they’ve been speeding through them over the last few days. I tried these books with him maybe six months ago, but he wanted to depend on the pictures and guessing. Now, he barely glances at the pictures and studiously sounds out words.
The Topical, Interactive Reader
Kai is three and he approaches reading in yet another way. He will sit through a bedtime story, but you won’t find him independently “reading” books, unless they are very topical. Kai is enamored with non-fiction books about monster trucks, fast cars, and fighter jets. He also prizes repetition and will listen to the same story every day, repeating lines along with you, anticipating the next page.
While I wish I could say books first excited Kai about numbers and letters, I have to give some real credit to interactive children’s television. Kai loves to count along, solve the puzzle, and figure out the mystery. His letter, number, and shape recognition is strong, thanks to the help of shows like Team Umizoomi. Thankfully, his screen time has blended into his story time, with his interest increasing in alphabet and number centered books. such as Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.
Family Reading Time
I love to see how these three approaches to reading intersect in our family. Sometimes, I discover the boys sitting eagerly around Ella while she reads aloud to them. Other times, they surprise each other with library book picks they would not have selected for themselves. As parents, we’ve also enjoyed introducing our children to past favorites and also discovered that some books we love from our childhood – here’s looking at you Berenstein Bears – are not as exciting to read as adults.
Most importantly, reading is a part of our daily lives. Sometimes it means reading a dreaded monster truck book again, explaining challenging vocabulary words, or telling a story while stifling yawns. Other times, it’s sharing a beloved book or engaging in a new story with your child. Whatever your approach, it’s best not to worry about doing it the “right” way. Introduce reading, make it a habit, then follow your child’s lead and an adventure surely awaits.
Both of my kids love to read which is great, especially because their dad absolutely hates reading. It has always been super important and fun for me. Even with Charlie who doesn’t sit still too long at a time, he will grab piles and piles of books. He has to talk about the pictures and what is happening in the story, especially ones he has read a bunch. Maggie just loves to read and ask questions, especially why questions.
I have to add this, even though I suppose it could be slightly off topic. I use to teach a before and after school program at a school. At the time, Minnesota’s hockey and basketball teams were in the playoffs. My assistant loved basketball, I love hockey. We would read the paper each morning, and after story time with the kids each afternoon, we would pull out the sections from the games the night before and tape them to the wall. Then, we would ask our K-3rd graders questions about the games. Who scored, who won, etc.. It was so much fun to see them ALL run to the wall to try and find the answers. The parents even loved it and started bringing us in the papers because they loved how much the kids would talk about it. It was a fun, different twist on reading that got everybody involved, even if they couldn’t read by themselves yet.
I actually started a Books We Love feature each week on my blog because I love sharing what our favorites are at any given time.
Family reading time is very important in our house
As a trained educator, with a Masters in Linguistics I always assumed my house would be a “book” house but with Eph’s diagnosis of dyslexia, we are more of a struggle to read house. It is a battle and a half and I hate it.
Lu is a natural. I have no doubt she is going to be pouring through books in no time.
And with the Deaf baby, well… that is a whole other nightmare.