The Early Years: Birth to Preschool

Contents

Books and Babies

What you'll need:

Some books written especially for babies (books made of cardboard or cloth with flaps to lift and holes to peek through).

What to do:

• Start out by singing lullabies and folk songs to your baby. When your baby is about six months old, choose books with brightly colored, simple pictures and lots of rhythm in the text. (Mother Goose rhymes are perfe ct.) Hold your baby in your lap so he/she can see the colorful pages of the book. Include books that show pictures and names of familiar objects.
  
  
• As you read with your baby, point out objects in the pictures and make sure your baby sees all the things that are fun to do with books. (Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt is a classic touch-and-feel book for b abies.)
  
  
• Vary the tone of your voice with different characters in the stories, sing nursery rhymes, make funny faces, do whatever special effects you can to stimulate your baby's interest.
  
  
• Allow your child to touch and hold cloth and sturdy cardboard books.
  
  
• When reading to a baby, keep the sessions brief but read daily and often.
  
  

As you read to your baby, your child is forming an association between books and what is most loved--your voice and closeness. Allowing babies to handle books deepens their attachment even more.

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Tot Talk

What you'll need:

Yourself and your child

What to do:

• As you get dinner ready, talk to your child about things that are happening. When your 2- or 3-year-old "helps" by taking out all the pots and pans, talk about them. "Which one is the biggest?" "Can you find a lid for that one?" "What color is this one?"

• When walking down the street and your toddler or preschooler stops to collect leaves, stop and ask questions that require more than a "yes" or "no" answer. "Which leaves are the same?" "Which leaves are different?" "W hat else grows on trees?"

• Ask "what if" questions. "What would happen if we didn't shovel the snow?" "What if that butterfly lands on your nose?"

• Answer your child's endless "why" questions patiently. When you say, "I don't know, let's look it up," you show how important books are as resources for answering questions.

• After your child tells you a story, ask questions so you can understand better. That way children learn how to tell complete stories and know you are interested in what they have to say.

• Expose your child to varied experiences--trips to the library, museum, or zoo; walks in the park; or visits with friends and relatives. Surround these events with lots of comments, questions, and answers.

Talking enables children to expand their vocabulary and understanding of the world. The ability to carry on a conversation is important for reading development. Remember, it is better to talk too much rather than too little with a small child.

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R and R: Repetition and Rhyme

What you'll need:

Books with repeated phrases (Our favorites are: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst; Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr.; Horton Hat ches the Egg by Dr. Seuss; and The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper. Check the booklists at the end of this booklet for more ideas.)

Short rhyming poems

What to do:

• Pick a story with repeated phrases or a poem you and your child like. For example, read:

  (Wolf voice:)
  "Little pig, little pig, let me come in."

  (Little pig:)
  "Not by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin."

  (Wolf voice:)
  "Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in!"

  After the wolf has blown down the first pig's house, your child will soon join in with the refrain.
  
  

• Read slowly, and with a smile or a nod, let your child know you appreciate his or her participation.

• As the child grows more familiar with the story, pause and give him or her a chance to fill in the blanks and phrases.

• Encourage your child to pretend to read, especially books that contain repetition and rhyme. Most children who enjoy reading will eventually memorize all or parts of a book and imitate your reading. This is a normal p art of reading development.

When children anticipate what's coming next in a story or poem, they have a sense of master over books. When children feel power, they have the courage to try. Pretending to read is an important step in the process of learning to read.

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Poetry in Motion

What you'll need:

Poems that rhyme, tell a story, and/or are written from a child's point of view.

What to do:

• Read a poem slowly to your child, and bring all your dramatic talents to the reading. (In other words, "ham it up.")

• If there is a poem your child is particularly fond of, suggest acting out a favorite line. Be sure to award such efforts with delighted enthusiasm.

• Suggest acting out a verse, a stanza, or the entire poem. Ask your child to make a face the way the character in the poem is feeling. Remember that facial expressions bring emotion into the performer's voice.

• Be an enthusiastic audience for your child. Applause is always nice.

• If your child is comfortable with the idea, look for a larger setting with an attentive, appreciative audience. Perhaps an after-dinner "recital" for family members would appeal to your child.

• Mistakes are a fact of life, so ignore them.

Poems are often short with lots of white space on the page. This makes them manageable for new readers and helps to build their confidence.

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Story Talk

What you'll need:

Storybooks

What to do:

• Read slowly and pause occasionally to think aloud about a story. You can say: "I wonder what's going to happen next!" Or ask a question: "Do you know what a palace is?" Or point out: "Look where the little mouse i s now."

• Answer your children's questions, and if you think they don't understand something, stop and ask them. Don't worry if you break into the flow of a story to make something clear. But keep the story flowing as smooth as possible.

• Talking about stories they read helps children develop their vocabularies, link stories to everyday life, and use what they know about the world to make sense out of stories.

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Now Hear This

What you'll need:

Your imagination

What to do:

• Have your child tell stories like those you have told. Ask: "And then what happened?" to urge the story along.

• Listen closely when your child speaks. Be enthusiastic and responsive. Give your child full attention.

• If you don't understand some part of the story, take the time to get your child to explain. This will help your child understand the relationship between a speaker and a listener and an author and a reader.

• Encourage your child to express himself or herself. This will help your child develop a richer vocabulary. It can also help with pronouncing words clearly.

Having a good audience is very helpful for a child to improve language skills, as well as confidence in speaking. Parents can be the best audience a child will ever have.

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TV

What you'll need:

A weekly TV schedule

What to do:

• Limit your child's TV viewing and make your rules and reasons clear. Involve your child in choosing which programs to watch. Read the TV schedule together to choose.

• Monitor what your child is watching, and whenever possible, watch the programs with your child.

• When you watch programs with your child, discuss what you have seen so your child can better understand the programs.

• Look for programs that will stimulate your child's interests and encourage reading (such as dramatizations of children's literature and programs on wildlife and science.)

Many experts recommend that children watch no more than 10 hours of TV each week. Limiting TV viewing frees up time for reading and writing activities.

It is worth noting that captioned TV shows can be especially helful with children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, studying English as a second language, or having difficulty learning to read.