Let's Get Ready For Reading: A Guide to Help Kids Become Readers - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1554519039 ISBN 13: 9781554519033

Publisher: Annick Press, 2017

Synopsis

From the earliest age, children respond to stimuli that prepare them to enjoy books and reading. This guide illustrates how parents and caregivers can foster a love of reading from the time a baby is born. Whether it’s listening to the rhythmic cadence of chants and nursery rhymes, looking at brightly colored pictures, or listening to stories, children learn to associate reading with the warm and happy experience of spending time with a parent, grandparent, or caregiver. Filled with rhymes, songs, and games, Let’s Get Ready for Reading provides tons of suggestions for engaging kids, from using different voices for the characters in a book to helping them recognize shapes in preparation for learning the alphabet. A look at developmental milestones helps parents adapt strategies to the age of the child, while dozens of recommended books take out the guesswork during the next visit to the library or bookstore.

About this title

About the Author

Toronto Public Library: Toronto Public Library is North America’s busiest public library system. Its expert staff conduct highly successful courses on a range of subjects related to literacy.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Every parent wants their child to succeed. Compelling studies show that to succeed in school, a child needs to be literate. Children begin to learn literacy skills as soon as they are born, long before they enter school. With your help as their first and best teachers, your children can start acquiring important literacy skills from birth. Toronto Public Library, a leader in early literacy services in the community, modelled the Ready for Reading program and services on the American Library Association’s initiative Every Child Ready to Read @ the Library. Both are library-based programs that enlist parents and caregivers as key players in promoting early childhood literacy, giving them the information and the tools they need to help their children acquire the necessary skills. Every Child Ready to Read and Toronto Public Library’s Ready for Reading are founded on research into areas as diverse as national literacy statistics, school readiness studies, stages of brain development and early childhood development.

Literacy

Adult literacy is a persistent problem, even in developed countries like the United States. According to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy, 43% of Americans read only at grade 8 level or below. Low literacy can limit academic and career prospects, as well as the ability to cope in a modern society. School readiness Research shows that an astonishing number of children are ill-prepared for school. The groundwork for success is laid by parents at home. Simple things such as reading regularly with your child, talking, using new words and making books available at home can help overcome potentially negative setbacks, such as low socio-economic status. The relationship between the skills children have when they enter school and their later academic performance is striking. Children who start school without the necessary skills typically stay behind.

Brain development in early childhood

Scientists have found that the architecture of the brain develops in stages beginning before birth, and each stage of development builds on the previous one. In the first years of life, connections between brain synapses are made at an astounding rate. This is the time when they are learning not only to crawl and walk, but also to make their first attempts to speak, relate to the world around them and problem solve. The more you communicate with your child in a supportive stimulating and nurturing environment, the more you nurture their brain development. Repeated messages mean more and stronger neural connections will be formed. And the easiest way to do this is by talking, reading singing playing and writing with your child. This is a great way to build a solid foundation for future learning.

Edition details

• Publisher: Annick Press
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1554519039
• ISBN 13: 9781554519033
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 80