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Fostering a Love of Reading
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Literacy Program Development at School: How Parents Can Help
April 3, 2011
Parents often think that teaching literacy has to be a formal activity, but it’s the accumulation of the little things that parents already do naturally that makes the difference: singing songs, telling stories and getting involved at your child’s school.
When considering how to improve your school’s literacy program, talk to your teacher or principal about the ideas below and learn how you can best get involved.
Just Read
At school, volunteer to come in for story-time. You may share several books a night with your child, but not all families have the luxury of time to do so. In fact, fewer than half of families with kindergarten-age children read to them on a daily basis, which makes reading at school that much more important. And when you are at home, National PTA recommends reading with your child for 30 minutes every day. As s/he gets older and begins to read more on his own, continue to bond over books by asking him questions about his latest favorite.
Talk It Up
Prefer to make up your own tales rather than read from the page? Great! Telling children stories about travel or a cultural tradition automatically exposes them to different words and concepts. So arrange a time when you can come to the class to talk about your job, where you come from, a trip you just took , anything. It’s helpful to bring a prop to help spark discussion and focus the kids’ attention. But don’t feel pressured to make your presentation fancy. Simply listening to and conversing with a new grown-up is beneficial for kids.
Share Books
Make a list of your family’s favorite books and encourage other parents in the class to do the same. You can share lists and then start an informal book swap.
Dedicate a section at your school’s book fair to new and gently used books donated by parents and available at no cost (one or two per family, depending on supply).
Liven up the Library
If you notice that the media selection at the school library doesn’t match the diversity of the school or community, hold a fund-raiser to drum up money for new titles. You might also work with your PTA to hold a book drive to build the school’s collection or to share with local families.
Let us know how you stay involved in your child’s literacy program at school!
Jump into Reading!
March 22, 2011
Did anyone ever tell you you had an active child? Do your kids express themselves with physical movement? When considering if the kinesthetic learning style applies to your children, know that the development of gross motor skills occurs on the same side of the brain as the linguistic skills and fostering both is important for language acquisition.
I often mesh pre-reading skills with movement in my classroom. Young children are always in need of gross motor activities to help them stay focused on more academic tasks. So, during our meeting times or even in small group work, we move our bodies to the rhythm of language.
Here’s some easy ways you can keep your child engaged in reading kills by using their bodies!!
*Clap out letters in a word! Use their name first and then move on to 3 letter words like: CAT, HAT, PIG, and DIG
*Clap out words in a sentence! This is great for beginning readers and helps to define sentence structure. Again, start with simple sentences like: The cat sat. The girl jumped. The boy ran.
*Jump out letters and sentences! You can even write the letters and words on large cards and jump next to them when you say/read them aloud!!
Enjoy the different ways that children can learn to read and remember, when kids move their bodies around it helps them stay focused on the many challenging tasks of reading!
Springtime Science Fosters Literacy Development
March 14, 2011
March is here and kids in school begin to feel the spring fever! In my classroom this is always the time of year for transition as the children say goodbye to cold winter days and hello to warm spring evenings. We always turn our focus to our science center as the days get longer and the trees and plants come back to life with new growth.
Using science to build on language and literacy skills is one of the best ways to make vocabulary development hands-on for kids. Here’s some objects to have in your science centers this time of year that allow children to stay connected to their living environments:
Keep your eyes peeled for the first signs of spring and as soon as you see buds popping open to leaves, pick one or two for the children to observe with magnifying glasses. Make sure to record children’s observations!
Plant and sprout different types seeds in your classroom. Allow children to observe the growth process and have them record their findings in a journal.
Put soil in your touch table or in bins for children to feel. Talk about the difference between sand and soil. Explain the importance of the nutrients that soil provides to growing plants and trees. Record descriptive words that the children say about how the soil feels to them!
Let us know what you are doing in your classrooms this spring!
Valentine’s Day for Kids
February 8, 2011
Next Monday is Valentine’s Day. And to get you in the spirit, here’s a round up of our favorite craft ideas for the holiday. In addition to these great ideas, you can use Valentine’s Day to inspire kids to write poems and their own stories about LOVE!
-Why do we celebrate Valentine’s Day? Learn some history to enhance the Day of Love.
-Don’t want your classroom to be too luvey-duvey? We love these monster cards. Put a little bit of edge into Valentine’s Day!
- I have never heard of an “inchie,” but this project came out really well and is adorable. It is also a great way for kids to get to know each other in the classroom.
-Not in the mood to make a card, Shiny Brite has some wonderful options for creative cards on the market.
-We love cookies! Here’s a great recipe to get them at the tummy!
For more ideas, follow us on Twitter!
Sing Your Way To Reading Success!
February 2, 2011
Does singing simple songs boost linguistic intelligence or language development?
As a preschool teacher for many years and a new mom singing my days away, I truly believe that, yes, singing and language skills are interconnected. The patterns of words, rhymes, rhythms and tonal qualities inherent in songs are incorporated easily and naturally by children as they learn to speak and, eventually, to read.
Singing together provides a joyful way to expand your child’s spoken vocabulary and creates a strong bond. One of the greatest ways to encourage literacy is simply to talk to your kids, singing takes this to the next level.
Songs and books are both sequences of events, and so singing provides fundamental skills kids use in school. As your child starts to explore sounds and put them in order, she is engaged in a developmental behavior critical not only in musical development but also in pre-reading skills.
Here are some tips on how to use songs and singing in everyday life, making music a joyful part of emerging literacy:
- Make up silly songs about everyday activities, like brushing teeth, getting dressed, or cleaning up. Use a familiar melody or invent your own.
- Explore your family’s roots and traditions when looking for songs to sing.
- Go to the library to find books based on songs (e.g. There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, Baby Beluga, Old McDonald), and/or music CD’s based on books — then go home and sing them together.
- Have grandma or grandpa make a recording using our personalized option at MeeGenius.com of a favorite book to read to your child. Preschoolers are fascinated by the sound of their voices, and this provides a memorable connection around music!
In Memory of Jack LaLanne
January 25, 2011
Yesterday, a pioneer of American fitness passed away. Jack LaLanne was 96.
As his life is remembered in the coming days, it can give us reason to reflect on ourselves and how we perceive exercise and what we pass on to the future generation. As a child, the highlight of our year in gym was The President’s Challenge. I watched a lot of TV as a kid, so this was not my favorite activity. However, it was the one time during the year where I pushed myself and got to see how strong I really was. Learning about our bodies is a great way to think about our minds. We can always work harder than we think we can!
If the President’ Challenge is not in your child’s school there are some ways you can teach your child that exercise is important. You can take a cue from First Lady Michelle Obama, and get moving with your child. You can also find videos and group sports in your neighborhood that will make it fun for your child to get active. Another idea is to read. Yes, read. While reading will not work your myocardium , books about exercise, dance or any activity can pass on healthy values to your children, as well as spark conversation about what it means to be fit.
(For an extra kick, check out vintage Jack LaLanne videos!)
What’s In A Name?
January 22, 2011
There’s a good chance that a child’s first experience with reading and learning to look at print has to do with the child’s own name. Children who are connecting print to themselves begin to notice print in their environment.
As a preschool teacher for many years, I often have parents come and ask me if I have taught the children how to write their names or how to read letters. My usual response is, “We have their name printed in as many places as we can, that way the children can use their name as an important resource in learning to read.“
Most young children build a sort of network of understanding around their names that help them figure out words, sequencing of letters, meaning of words, the direction of written word, that other words start or end like their name and even that words can be put together to make a message.
Make your child’s experience with learning letters authentic by connecting written language to his or her name. Print their name in a large block letter font on a name card or half a sheet of 8.5×11 paper and include a photograph of the child. You can use this name card for many pre-literacy activities including letter/sound recognition practice and writing skills and the more you use it in the child’s environment, the more they will recognize the same letters in new places!
Rhyme Rhyme All the Time!
January 12, 2011
Why is knowing the sounds in words so important for literacy learning? In English and in many other languages, there is a close relationship between the sounds we speak and the ways in which they are represented in written symbols. There is a natural human tendency to enjoy the sounds of language. For example, people delight in poetic alliteration and we enjoy rhyme and rhythm. When young children hear rhyming sounds they usually can’t help but chime in with their own rhyming words.
By using rhyme to support children’s playful interest in language learning, parents and teachers can use the natural enjoyment of poetry and song to help children pay close attention to how language sounds.
As children learn to read and write, understanding the sound-letter relationship is key, and this understanding begins the oral language experiences. Encourage your young children to rhyme openly. Start by modeling it for them and soon enough they will catch on. You can even record their rhymes and collect them together to build a foundation for writing poetry! Some wonderful authors who are known for their poetry and rhyme are: Dr. Suess, Margaret Wise Brown and good old Mother Goose!
Reacting to the Tragedy in Arizona
January 10, 2011
By now, everyone has heard about the tragedy in Arizona, the alleged assassination attempt on Rep. Giffords and the deaths of innocent people, including a child. But how do we overcome such sadness? How do we explain this horror to children?
With Martin Luther King Jr. Day coming up, it is very appropriate to ask these questions. How can we turn ideas and actions of hate into a time of learning love for others, no matter how different. Here are some ideas:
-The official title for MLK Day is the MLK Day of Service. Take your children to volunteer anywhere in the community. Give them a sense of a world bigger than their own. The official government site has ideas on how to achieve this as well as on how to join a project.
-Other activities include coloring sheets and crossword puzzles for kids to learn about MLK Jr.
-And don’t forget reading is a great way to connect with your children and share stories. To add to the sharing, encourage your children to write their own stories about when they were nice to a friend, sibling or anyone. If they are not writing yet, they can color pictures to tell their story.
With sadness comes an opportunity for growth. Please share any of your ideas for celebrating MLK Jr. Day and helping in spreading respect and tolerance around this country.
Purposeful Print
January 2, 2011
How do we display print around our classrooms? Why do we label items around our classrooms as teachers of young children? What is the purpose of the print that we display for students to see? These are all questions that educators of young children should ask themselves when organizing their learning environments.
The environment of our classrooms can act as a teacher in itself for children’s learning. A purposeful environment allows a teacher to step back and observe children learning from the materials, pictures, and print available for the students to explore. How I set up my classroom, the way I organize my day, and the materials I provide can either make or break my efforts to work effectively with children.
In my class of three and four year olds, children move independently through their work and play. Bins of materials are labeled with photographic representation of the objects along with large print showing the words. Matching labels are taped to the shelves where the bins belong when they are put away. Children clearly find their way around the room, and in each learning center they are met with many opportunities to see letters and words associated with concrete objects.
Our daily schedule is made up of actual photographs of the teachers and children performing the sequence of events throughout the day. The print is predictable and large for the children to see on each picture and event represented. In my classroom, our free play time is the longest time of our day. On our daily schedule it is the biggest picture represented. The different size pictures show the children an essence of how time can be measured with a photo.
The organization of our classrooms, the materials we use to connect to print, and the way we structure our day send a powerful message to children and parents about our attitudes towards teaching and literacy. If we want children to respond to how words carry meaning in our environment, then we have to make the connections to those words meaningful for each child. What better way to engage a child in their day then to have a picture of them on the daily schedule!! Let us know how you make print meaningful in your classrooms.
