Cold weather has kept many people with small children wondering how to keep their children busy and occupied. One of those great past times is reading. According to educators, while children are young is a great time to introduce them to and get them excited about reading.
Most little kids, from babies to kindergarteners, delight in listening to stories. This is a good thing as reading is important for a child’s development, learning and future. However, for many older children, reading can start to feel like a chore, especially once electronics start to compete for their free time.
School and parents often mandate reading time for kids, but this does not mean the kids fall in love with reading. In fact, sometimes, attempts to get children to pick up a book can fuel conflict and negativity about reading.
Warsaw South Elementary pre-school teacher Kristy Henderson has worked with children at several different grade levels.
“Ensuring that young children start their love of reading is entrusted to their parents and caregivers," Henderson said. "It should start as early as possible. It doesn't have to be anything elaborate. Young children have short attention spans, so just show them how books work . . . turn pages, talk about the pictures, use an engaging voice, enjoy the 1 to 1 time with them. As their development continues, your reading can begin to show them more about how print works and about lessons books can teach us. They will soon want to do it by themselves.”
Warsaw North Elementary teacher Julie Parker used her days off to work with her own children on their reading skills.
“As an educator, I believe one of the most important things you can do for your child at an early age to prepare them for school and to be a lifelong learner is to read to them daily. Set aside time every day to read a book (or more) with them. Make it part of their nighttime routine. Reading to them at an early age will help build language skills. It exposes them to new words and how to use them which will help them when they start school. After you have read a book to them, make sure and ask them questions about the story or including what they liked best about the story. Once your child is reading independently, don’t stop that important part of the nighttime routine. Continue to read to them or have them read to you. Ask questions after to make sure they are understanding parts of the story,” said Parker.
The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard in an In Brief Report suggests that, “what happens in early childhood can matter for a lifetime. To successfully manage our society’s future, we must recognize problems and address them before they get worse.” Developing word recognition and literacy awareness in young children is crucial for their future learning. And it has been shown that literacy is a vital pathway out of poverty. One of the best ways of engaging with young children is through looking at books together. Reading aloud promotes language development and early literacy skills such as: book handling and naming, understanding how stories work, recognition of sounds and letters, knowledge of a wide range of vocabulary, and a child’s ability to listen. Despite all of the benefits of reading aloud, surveys show that only half of parents read to their young children daily. Families living in poverty are significantly less likely to read aloud to their infants and toddlers (Child Trends Online.). The National Research Council’s Committee on the Prevention of Reading Difficulties in Young Children states that most reading difficulties can be prevented by ensuring that all children, in particular those at risk for reading difficulties, have access to early childhood environments that promote language and literacy development and encourage those skills needed to learn to read.
The First United Methodist Church of Warsaw began a reading program in conjunction with the Warsaw R-9 School District several years ago. Their program gives books to children in grades pre-school through first grade.
“This project seeks to close the literacy gap by providing adult volunteers from the church to read aloud to the preschoolers served by Parents as Teachers, Early Childhood Special Education, kindergarten, and first grade classes in the Warsaw School District,” said Pastor Loren Whetsell. “After each monthly reading session, children are provided with a book of their own to take home with them, so parents or guardians will have the opportunity to engage with them in reading. Since 2019, our partnership has provided more than 10,000 books to the children of Warsaw. The hope is that the program will continue to raise awareness of some of the issues affecting literacy in our youngest children and bring together a community network to support them in Benton County with the church taking the lead. Together, we can make a huge impact in promoting the benefits of reading aloud as a way of encouraging overall literacy in our community. This truly can be a way to seek a pathway out of poverty.”
Warsaw pre-school teacher Lucy Bell is in charge of selecting books for the church’s distribution.
“I select both fiction and non-fiction books,” said Bell. “We order from Scholastic Books because they have a great selection and award bonus points for the number of books ordered which gives our program free books as well. Our reading program also includes members of the Methodist congregation who go to both North and South Elementary schools to read to the children once a month. Having an adult take an interest in the children helps to reinforce the idea that reading is fun for both adults and children. We are giving nine books per year to each child in grades pre-k, kindergarten and first grade which adds up to 260 books. When we started each book cost about $1.25 and now each book is $3.25.”
Another way that parents can help their children to become active readers and learners is the Parents as Teachers (PAT) program. Parents as Teachers is an evidence-based home visiting model that promotes the optimal early development, learning and health of children by supporting and engaging their parents and caregivers. The PAT mission is to promote the optimal early development, learning, and health of children by supporting and engaging their parents and caregivers.
PAT empowers parents as their child’s first teacher, working with families from pregnancy through kindergarten. PAT services can be offered in various types of organizations, including but not limited to family resource centers, early childhood councils, non-profit organizations, school districts, and family literacy programs. This is a free program.
Warsaw R-9 PAT teacher Ammanda Kreisel commented that it is never too early to start reading to children.
“Reading is not only important for a child’s early education, but also building strong relationships with their caregiver,” said Kreisel. “Early reading is good for a young child’s vocabulary, language skills, listening skills and it allows their imagination to wonder. When you read to a child, you are building a foundation to their education.”
In addition to the help that the schools can give parents and students, there are also special programs at the local Boonslick Regional Library in Warsaw.
According to library supervisor Morgan Hudson, the local library offers Storytime for children 0-5 years on Mondays from 10:00 AM until 10:45 AM starting on February 12. The session includes an adult reading a story to the children as well as singing, dancing and participating in a crafting activity.
“We have a special section of the library just for children,” said Hudson.
In the summer, there is a special reading program for children 0-18 years old to read from June 1 until July 3. Participants can sign-up June 1 and then compete for prizes to be awarded on July 3 based on the number of books read.
Another program which benefits children is the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. County music star Dolly Parton started a program in 1995 which now gifts over 2.4 million free, high quality, age-appropriate books each month to children around the world. Parents need only to sign up on the Imagination Library website.
In the end, all educators agreed that there is no app to replace a parent’s or grandparent’s lap.
