Posted on: Monday, July 25, 2005
Ideas get children wanting to read
By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer
Janet Yap pulled on a "little red hen" headdress for a Board of Education committee the other day to show how effective the parent outreach reading program can be to acquaint parents with techniques they can use to prepare their toddlers to be readers.
While the headdress and hand puppet that Yap favors don't come with the kits that Hawai'i's public libraries will introduce to parents this fall, Yap will encourage librarians to use such additional props and encourage parents to be creative at home as they play with and read to their little ones. Yap, a former preschool teacher and director, said these kinds of techniques will delight and intrigue children.
Here are tips to help encourage your little ones to want to read:
Youngsters as young as 1 and 2 can be taught how to hold books, while 2- and 3-year-olds can begin learning letters if parents read road or street signs, or talk about the colors of fruits and vegetables while grocery shopping.
Try "board books" for 1- and 2-year-olds to get them used to handling books, even if they want to gnaw on them.
Use a sock puppet to converse with your child during bath-time and curl up Sunday morning and read the newspaper funnies together.
Point to familiar items in the Longs ad and tell children what they are and how to spell them.
Buy children coloring books to get them comfortable with holding crayons and paint brushes. That is a readiness skill for learning to print and write. Graduate from coloring books to helping them learn to print their names, and draw and paint themselves. "It's basic school readiness," said teacher Lisa Asano.
By reading to your children you will build their vocabulary. Children understand at a more advanced level than they can read themselves.
