Growing a Reader from Birth: Your Child's Path from Language to Literacy - Hardcover

McGuinness, Diane

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393058026 ISBN 13: 9780393058024

Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc, 2004

Synopsis

Explores the various ways in which children learn language and traces the language growth in children from infants to preschoolers, documenting milestones in vocabulary development, listening and communication skills, and reading ability and explaining how parents can maximize a child's abilities and become a positive force in nurturing a child's language. 20,000 first printing.

About this title

About the Author

Diane McGuinness, Ph.D., is the author of When Children Don't Learn and Why Our Children Don't Read and What We Can Do About It.

Reviews

McGuinness (Why Our Children Don't Read and What We Can Do About It) points out that being a good reader involves much more than simply decoding words; she claims that the best predictor for becoming a good reader is the development of good language skills during the early years of life. Fortunately, the author notes, there are many ways in which parents can help children lay the groundwork for later reading success, and although about 50% of a child's verbal skill can be attributed to genetics, the other 50 is the result of "shared environment," or what the child learns at home. McGuinness guides parents through the first five years of the child's life, highlighting language milestones and suggesting ways parents can nurture verbal abilities. For instance, parents who engage in an "elaborate" communication style use interactive dialogue, employ descriptive language and encourage the child to participate. Parents who use a "repetitive" style, however, are not setting their child up for reading success; they use impoverished language and question their child repetitively until a desired response is given. The book is not a typical reading primer: McGuinness cautions against such timeworn tools as picture books (they "distract" the child from memorizing a story sequence), rhyming games and preschool (which may benefit neither language nor literacy, she asserts). Parents seeking quick, easy tips won't find them here, but they will find novel suggestions for building a solid literacy groundwork during the prereading years.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

McGuinness decodes the process that children use in their own decoding of words on the way to learning to read and write and how parents can help in the process. The book is arranged according to the child's age, starting with prenatal development. Each chapter describes the most recent research on language development and suggests ways that parents can directly affect development, from reading to babies in utero to interactive dialogues with young children that encourage their participation. McGuinness advises parents on helping children learn skills in decoding words, developing vocabulary, improving memory, and becoming good listeners, speakers, and writers. McGuinness concludes with a chapter describing the evolution of various methods of teaching reading, including basal readers, whole language, and phonics as well as her own reading program. She also provides a review of the most popular programs used by parents and schools to teach reading to young children, including remedial reading programs. This book is a valuable, accessible resource for parents looking for information on developing reading skills in young children. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0393058026
• ISBN 13: 9780393058024
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224