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

Diane McGuinness

Softcover

ISBN 10: 039333239X ISBN 13: 9780393332391

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2004

Synopsis

Full of fascinating insights into infant behavior, Growing a Reader from Birth not only illuminates the stages of language learning in children but also wisely counsels parents on how to maximize interactions with their children and be a positive force in nurturing their child’s language from day one.

An essential guide to understanding a child’s emerging language from the first days of babbling through a five-year-old’s mastery of reading.

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.

From Publishers Weekly

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.

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 039333239X
• ISBN 13: 9780393332391
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272