Early steps to reading
MANY parents want to encourage English language skills in their toddlers and pre-school children but they may be unsure about how to go about it.
They would like their children to grow up fluent in English, with the spoken and written word, but they do not know how to expand their children’s vocabulary and are afraid of putting too much pressure on toddlers.
By communicating and spending time with their children, parents can extend language without pressure, in a natural and positive way. Speech usually starts to develop between 18 months and two years. By the age of three, children often ask many questions, as they are interested to discover more about the world around them.
Parents should take the time to converse with their children during this period. Encourage your children to ask questions. Be patient when answering their questions and share books, songs and rhymes with them.
At this young age, children are most interested in themselves and their immediate surroundings. They are not too good at sharing yet, or interacting with other children, although they are beginning to learn these skills.
They are beginning to understand concepts such as size, shape, colour and numbers and should be encouraged to develop this knowledge by exploring, matching, counting, comparing and discussing.
Discovering the world of books fits nicely into this developmental pattern, and it should be fun and relevant to their lives and interests.
The magic world of reading can start long before children recognise words and sentences, and the most important lesson parents and teachers can teach young toddlers is that reading is all about understanding.
To enjoy books, they must be understood and this is the key that can unlock the mystery and eventually motivate the child to read for pleasure.
One activity that nurtures a child’s desire to read is storytelling. When reading a story to your child, encourage him to participate in a discussion about the plot, characters or the illustrations.
Encourage him to use his imagination by asking him what he thinks will happen next when you are reading a new storybook.
This predicting will make the book more exciting and ensure comprehension. At the end, children can recall what happened and discuss the story.
Parents should take the opportunity to show children how reading and later, writing, can become a part of their lives.
From the age of three, you can share the menu in a restaurant, introduce the telephone, show his name and read the message on birthday cards, let him add his scribble to a letter to Grandma, or help Dad “read” the newspaper.
Interest in books will grow if parents enjoy reading and if books are part of the home environment.
By four, children will recount the story in a book although they cannot actually read the words, or they may even recite a short book by heart. These are good signs which show that they already understand that what is important about a book is the meaning.
Nurturing a love of books and reading in your children, beginning when they are very young, will open the door to a wonderful world of knowledge and enjoyment. It is a gift that they will appreciate throughout their lives.
• Article is contributed by Lorna Whiston Study Centres.
For more helpful tips on how your child can succeed in early reading, come to Lorna Whiston’s interactive Early Reading Workshop 2012 for parents of children up to six years old at Eastin Hotel, Petaling Jaya, on April 26.
For more information or to register, call 03-7727 1909 (TTDI) or 03-4147 3229 (Taman Melawati). You can also find Lorna Whiston on Facebook and Twitter.
For details, contact Lorna Whiston Sdn Bhd at:
> Taman Tun Dr Ismail centre, Units 8 & 10, Jalan Wan Kadir 1, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 03-7727 1909, email ttdi@lornawhiston.com.my
> Taman Melawati centre, 342A & 343A, Lorong Kedah, Pusat Bandar Taman Melawati, Melawati Urban 1, Taman Melawati, Kuala Lumpur, Tel: 03-4147 3229, email tm@ lornawhiston.com.my
Alternatively, visit www.lorna whiston.com.my