If you have a preschooler, you may be starting to think about how to help your child succeed in school. Reading aloud is always a great place to start. You can get a lot of mileage out of well-chosen books.
Today I'm sharing five kinds of books you can read aloud to your preschooler. The variety can help them develop skills for success in school as well as a love of reading.
Today I'm sharing five kinds of books you can read aloud to your preschooler. The variety can help them develop skills for success in school as well as a love of reading.
The most important kind of books to read with your child are
books you both love. If you enjoy what
you read, you’ll want more. And more is good.
Plus, you want your child to develop positive associations with reading. Feeling good about reading will
help motivate him to learn to read.
Stories That Are Complicated in Some Way
Why would you want to read complicated stories to a little
kid? For one, kids love complicated stories. Equally important, there’s a ton
of learning to be had from them.
When you read aloud and get to a hard word or concept, and
discuss it with your child. Point out critical details in the pictures. Stop to
ask leading questions that step along to understanding.
What stories for preschoolers are complicated? Anything with
a twist in point of view, like Badger's Fancy Meal
or Blueberries for Sal
is
complicated. Stories with unfamiliar settings may be “complicated.” So can
books with a tricky play on words, such as Mother Mother I Want Another
(affiliates).
or Blueberries for Sal
is
complicated. Stories with unfamiliar settings may be “complicated.” So can
books with a tricky play on words, such as Mother Mother I Want Another (affiliates).
If your child has asked you to read a story over
and over and over, consider that it may be complicated. Because one of the big
reasons kids ask for a book on repeat is that there’s something they don’t get
about it. So the story captivates them, yet also confuses them just a little.
(If reading a book over and over is starting to drive you
crazy, you might like to read How to Save Your Read-Aloud Sanity)
Nonfiction
The new state standards have a stronger emphasis on
nonfiction reading. To be successful in school, students need to be able to
read and understand this genre. You can begin in preschool with reading aloud
age-appropriate simple nonfiction books
on whatever subject interests your child.
While you read, point out some of the unique features of nonfiction. For instance, if there’s a caption under a picture, point at the words as you read. Read the sidebars, again pointing
with your finger. Your goal is for them to pick up on the fact that information
in nonfiction books comes from all
around the page. (I taught fifth graders who still struggled with this –
they’d just forget to look anywhere but the main body of text.)
Early Readers
No, “Early Readers” aren’t kids who are reading at age
three.
Early readers are books
meant for children who’re just getting started reading. They have simple
words, short sentences, and pictures on every page. Often, there’s a lot of
repetition. Books like Green Eggs and Ham,
Are You My Mother, Pete the Cat, and the Biscuit books are all early readers.
So if Early Readers are meant for kids to read, why would
you read them aloud? Once your child is at the stage of memorizing stories and
“reading” them back to you (an adorable stage, I might add!), having easy-to-read
books around helps them make the leap
from pretending to actually recognizing early sight words.
Books With Challenging Vocabulary & Concepts
Don’t shy away from books that have more advanced vocabulary
and concepts. Fairy tales, more advanced nonfiction, and chapter books are all fair game. You may have to explain more, but if your child is interested, go
for it!
You’ll be expanding your child’s vocabulary and background
knowledge, and those two things will have a huge impact on their success in school.
The foundation of reading comprehension is being able to
mentally file and organize the bits of information in a story or passage. That’s
much easier to do with a familiar topic than an unfamiliar one.
So reading widely does two things. One, it makes a wider variety
of topics familiar. Two, it gets kids used to being introduced to new topics.
If you’re right there with them keeping them from feeling too lost, they’ll
develop confidence in navigating unfamiliar topics.
If you're looking for even more information on how to help your child succeed in school, you may like to read about the early steps they need to take before they'll be ready to read.
I've teamed up with Karen from Raising Little Superheroes to give you more information about pre-reading skills. Karen is a former kindergarten teacher, so she knows a lot about what kids need to be successful in learning to read.
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More About Helping Your Child Be a Successful Reader
If you're looking for even more information on how to help your child succeed in school, you may like to read about the early steps they need to take before they'll be ready to read.
I've teamed up with Karen from Raising Little Superheroes to give you more information about pre-reading skills. Karen is a former kindergarten teacher, so she knows a lot about what kids need to be successful in learning to read.
Pin this!
Nice tips. We always love to push the kids. I once worked with the a teacher who took away a book from a child and said it was to hard. I know the child, and she understood the book. I was mortified. The only way to learn is to be challenged.
ReplyDeleteWow. I can't imagine taking a book away just because it's too hard! I like challenging kids in a way that they enjoy, even relish, the challenge. Sometimes it's tricky to find the right level of support they need or don't need.
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