Raising Readers: A Journey Toward Literacy

One evening as I was trying to prepare dinner for my family, my four-year old daughter, Anna, thrust Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar into my hands and cried, "Read to me." Instead of dropping everything to seize the opportunity to read to my child, I thrust the book back into her hands and said, " You read it to me ." She wailed, "But I can't read!" "Sure you can," I replied, as I set her up at the breakfast bar. "Start at the beginning," I said. And she did. Carefully turning the pages, describing the caterpillar's metamorphosis into a butterfly, Anna retold this favorite tale expressively and with great detail, even pointing to the words as she pretended to read.

Anna was able to retell or "read" her book, not because she has been exposed to any kind of formal reading-readiness curriculum, but because she has been read to. She understands that books are read from cover to cover, that we turn pages from left to right, and that the story matches the pictures. Her expressiveness while retelling her book demonstrates an understanding that book language is different from oral language. By attempting to point to the words on the page, she shows me that she is aware that print carries meaning. Her attempts at approximating reading will lead to "real" reading in the near future.

Preparing your child to be a reader

In Reading Without Nonsense , Frank Smith remarks, "There is no magical day in a child's life, or degree of knowledge that a child must possess, when it can be said that the child passes from a state of being unable to learn to read to a state of being ready." Ideally, preparing your child to become a reader begins at birth. If your child is surrounded by print, he or she will begin to make sense of it. As parents, we can facilitate the process in many ways.

Rejoice when your child recognizes words such as Starbucks, Cheerios or McDonald's because they are beginning to assign meaning to print.
As you read aloud to your child, take a moment to read the dedication, read about the author on the back flap, and compare the book to other books you may have read by the same author. Wonder together whom Bruce Degen had in mind when he dedicated Jamberry to "my special berry picker and the two little berries."
Reread favorite books so that your child can chime in and chant the familiar prose along with you or laugh for the umpteenth time at a funny part.
Leave out key words in books with rhyme or repetition; letting your child fill in the missing words, making him or her an active participant in story time.
Recite nursery rhymes and sing songs together.
Make reference in conversation to books your family is familiar with. Try opening a chocolate bar and wondering aloud if there might be a golden ticket to Willy Wonka's factory inside.
Read. When your child watches you read, he or she learns to value reading as an activity.
Set up a writing center at home with paper, markers, colored pencils, etc. When your child draws a picture, ask him or her to tell you about it and take dictation. Read the "story" back to your child or let him/her "read" it back to you. Offer to staple several pages together so that your child can write a "book."
Try listening to books on tape as an alternative to videos.

Beginning to read at school

As children enter school and begin formal reading instruction, they will learn the concept of sound-symbol correspondences. They will start to understand that individual sounds can be blended

together into words and they will soon recognize many words by sight. Phonics instruction is but one part of an effective reading program.

Experimenting with writing is vital to developing reading skills. Children learn to read by reading their own writing and reading other children's stories. Writing gives children an opportunity to practice the new phonics lessons they are learning and more importantly teaches them to put their thoughts down on paper. Writing stories helps children understand how to construct a story that follows a logical sequence and that uses book language rather than spoken language (e.g. "Once upon a time" or "lived happily ever after.")

At school, children will continue to listen to books read aloud, respond to those books, study about various authors and learn about the construct of a story. They will begin to understand that a good story has a beginning, a middle and an end. Children will identify problems in plots and see how those problems are

resolved. They may study different genres of books and come to recognize the components that make up fantasy books and historical fiction. Soon your child will reach a point that Marie Clay describes in Becoming Literate , as being an emergent reader--a time where, "the child combines his ability to produce sentences, his half memories of the text, the picture cues to meaning, and visual cues from letters." Soon, the incredibly complex process of reading comes together and your child will be reading conventionally.

Don't stop reading aloud to your children after they master decoding books on their own. Children are able to comprehend complex books even if they can't yet read them. By continuing to read aloud, you can help broaden your child's vocabulary and introduce them to more intricate plots and characters. Engage your child in discussions about how the characters change through the story, how problems are resolved, and about literary techniques the author uses.

Learning to read is a journey that can be likened to the way Lucy felt when she entered Narnia for the first time in C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. "Lucy felt a little frightened, but she felt inquisitive and excited as well." The prospect of having to make sense of little black squiggles on paper may seem a little daunting, but it is a most magical and exciting journey for both you and your child. Ultimately, the goal of reading instruction is to help children become avid, enthusiastic lifelong book lovers.