My Reading Place

Holiday Gift Giving Ideas

The Reading Lady — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 04:49:50 +0000

Books make great holiday gifts for children and adolescents. One of the best ways to make sure that your children are becoming strong readers is to find books that appeal to them so that they read as much as possible. The best way to improve at reading is to actually read. That being said, capitalize on your child’s interests and look for books that can appeal to those interests. Some children love fiction while others are more the non-fiction type and prefer to read about topics such as horses or race cars. If you are at a loss as to what type of books might appeal to your young child or teen reader, your local children’s librarian can provide guidance on what kids with similar interests are reading. Giving the gift of a book or two this holiday season is a wonderful way to stimulate learning and build a bookshelf of wonderful books that your child can come back to over and over again.

Listening to Stories Builds Children’s Vocabularies

The Reading Lady — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 03:29:46 +0000

All children love to be read but in our busy lives sometimes it is just plain hard to find the time to read to our children as much as we might want. A great way to fill in the gaps is by downloading free orally read stories that children can listen to over and over again on the computer, an iPod or even on your mobile phone. Two of my favorite websites for finding high quality stories that children will love to listen to over and over are www.storynory.com and www.thestoryhome.com. Both of these websites feature free downloadable stories that are sure to grab your children’s attention and stimulate their imagination. Another good source of free downloadable iPod and phone story aps can be found on iTunes. Listening to oral stories can not only help your children develop a love of listening to wonderful and informative stories but it can also enhance a child’s vocabulary in the process.

Summer Reading Tips

The Reading Lady — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 13:37:35 +0000

While children might be initially elated with reaching the end of the school year, if your children are like most kids, boredom quickly sets in and they are looking for something to do for part of each day. While summer is a great time to have fun and enjoy the outdoors, studies show that most students will lose some of their reading skills if they don’t keep in practice over those long summer breaks. To prevent loss of skills and fill those long, lazy days, here are some tips to keep those reading skills sharp and even build vocabulary skills in the process.

1) Find fun places such as the park, the patio or even the lake to spread out on a blanket or in a nice lounge chair and read aloud to your child. In addition to having some quality time, you can enjoy the outdoors and share the lives of special characters in your favorite books together. For younger children, this is also a good time to do rhyming books where you can enjoy the fun nature of language and sound.

2) Take your children to the library and help them select new books that appeal to them. If you are not sure what types of books your child might like, ask the children’s librarian. This person is usually very knowledgeable about what children of that age are reading and can point you to many new books that your child is likely to enjoy. Books that are in a series can be great choices since the child can develop a connection with the characters and story line in series books. S/he will look forward to finding and reading the next book in the series.

3) Take time to explore the fun websites and activities that abound on the internet. Spend time learning and reading more about your child’s favorite topics. There are some wonderful children’s websites on most topics of interest to children and your child can read and expand his or her knowledge on his favorite topics (be sure to supervise your child’s internet use).

4) Talk to your child and use “grown up” words. This is a good time to help your child learn new words by explaining new words, talking about tasks you are sharing and engaging in word play. The bigger children’s vocabulary, the more effective their reading skills can become.

5) Summer is a good time to pull out child-centered, age appropriate magazines and share them. Magazines such as Sports Illustrated for Kids, Ranger Rick, Highlights, National Geographic World and etc. can be great motivational reading material. Again, the library is a good source of these types of materials if you don’t have subscriptions to the various magazines. Finally, be a role model of reading yourself. Let your child see you reading and show that you value reading for enjoyment as well as for new knowledge.

Can You Teach A Child to Read Too Early?

The Reading Lady — Sat, 14 May 2011 03:22:34 +0000

While every parent wants their child to learn to read well, many parents do not understand the underlying skills that make children develop into strong and effective readers. The two greatest gifts that parents can give their children are a well developed vocabulary and the joy that comes from playing with letters and sounds. Forcing a child to try to “read” words on a page or memorizing flash cards with words or words and corresponding pictures is not learning to read. Learning to read starts with associating the sounds of the letters with the letters themselves. It begins with listening to good books and enjoying the “story” that is being told. For young children, it is listening to the same books over and over again until they can recite or “read along” with the parent. It is anticipating what will come in the next line or even on the next page. It is listening to the “lilt” of language and playing with rhyme and rhythm. This is the backbone of learning to read and becoming a strong and capable reader. So, stop wasting your money on products that promise “your baby can read” if you just buy my perfect product. It is a waste of time. Start spending time teaching your child to love the sound of words and the fun of stories you share with him. Before you know it, when the time is right for your child, your child will be “reading” right along with you and developing the skills that will enable him or her to be a capable and avid reader.

Asking the Right Questions at Parent-Teacher Conferences

The Reading Lady — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 18:27:07 +0000

Many parents are now visiting their child’s teacher for parent-teacher conferences at this mid-point in the school year. This is an important time to learn how your child is progressing in his or her literacy skills and get your questions answered. Some things to ask the teacher include the following:

1. How is my child’s reading level in comparison to where you expect him/her to be at this time of the school year? What type of growth has s/he made this year?

2. What types of books or materials should we be reading together or to our child to support what you are doing in the classroom?

3. Are there specific activities that you would like us to spend more time on at home to help our child’s reading grow more rapidly?

4. What does my child do well while reading and what needs more work? What strategies do you suggest for us to help our child at home?

5. What ideas do you have to help us keep our child motivated about his/her reading practice and schoolwork?

Preschool literacy Skills

The Reading Lady — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 18:11:58 +0000

For the past 10 years now, preschool children have enjoyed the PBS series Between the Lions on television. A new study, published by the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication, has discovered that this program when combined with teachers who have good training and instructional materials, can have a very positive impact on the preschool early literacy development of young children. In the show, Theo, the father lion, models how to read to his daughter and enjoy a book together. Children and parents can also enjoy listening to stories told in video form, play games and get free downloads of songs about letters and sounds to enjoy “on the go” with mobile devices at the Between the Lions website at http://pbskids.org/lions.

Helping Children Become Strong Readers

The Reading Lady — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 00:00:50 +0000

I was recently disappointed to learn that as children continue to grow, their pleasure reading often drops off. In a study commissioned by the Scholastic Book Company, researchers found that the number of children who are considered “high frequency readers” or children who read for fun each day drops from 40% to 29% after they reach age 8. Readers are more confident people. The study found that children who were high frequency readers viewed themselves as “smarter, better students, more popular and more creative. In other words, they were much more confident and had positive attitudes about themselves and their abilities. When asked why they didn’t read more, the children reported that they need help getting better books that they like to read. Parents on the other hand, thought that kids didn’t read as much due to too much homework or having better things to do. This is a great finding since parents can do a lot to help their children find more interesting books! Being a role model, talking to children about books and what you are reading can do a lot to pique student interest. Helping children connect with the types of books they really like is a very important way to encourage children to love reading and to engage in reading more often. When children read more, they become strong confident readers. Now who can argue with that as a great family goal?

Shared Reading for Fun and Fluency Building

The Reading Lady — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 02:40:25 +0000

A fun way to share some quality time and build reading fluency is to do shared readings with your children. Do this by you reading a page and the child reading the next page. Be sure to “ham it up” when you read dialogue. Children love funny voices and over-exaggerated expression. You will love it and your child will love not only the quality time but also the wonderful modeling you will be providing.

Tips for Parents on Building Strong Readers

The Reading Lady — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 00:01:12 +0000

As a child’s first and most constant teacher, parents play an important role in building strong, effective readers. Here are some tips to help your children develop a strong love of reading that will stay with them a lifetime.
1. Children love to emulate what the adults in their lives do so, first and foremost, model reading yourself. It is important that both mom and dad are seen reading on a regular basis. Talk to your children about what you are reading and about the interesting things you have learned.
2. Take time on a daily basis to read to and with your children. Reading time should be an enjoyable, relaxing time when the whole family can laugh and enjoy each others company.
3. Provide plenty of books so that your child has easy access to good books that he or she enjoys. Encourage him or her to read the favorites over and over again. You can purchase books new or find plenty of inexpensive choices at used bookstores, garage sales or other thrift shops. You can even pick up high quality, children’s books as low as a penny each in Amazon’s used book area. Libraries, of course, are also great sources of appropriate level books for ongoing reading enjoyment.
4. Talk to your child often when you are with him or her. A strong and well-developed vocabulary is an important trait for becoming a strong and effective reader. Tell stories, sing funny songs and help your child learn new idioms and sayings whenever possible.

5. Finally, praise, praise, praise. Your child needs to know that his or her hard work at learning to read is important to you as well as valued. Be sure to compliment your child on each step of progress

Finding Books Children Love

The Reading Lady — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 23:58:49 +0000

If you want your children to grow up to be strong readers who love books, you have to find books that grab their interest and help them connect with topics they enjoy. Recently, my seven year old neighbor girl was having difficulty with learning to reading in the first grade. Her mother was worried because she was struggling and often told her mother that she did not like to read. In talking about the problem, we identified that the little girl loved to watch a television program called “Merlin” and seldom missed it. We connected the Merlin television show to the Magic Tree House series of books set in Camelot by author, Mary Pope Osborne. The star of these books is of course, none other than her favorite character – Merlin! The little girl is fascinated by these wonderful new books and begs to read every day in her new “special books.” Her mother says that her reading has dramatically improved and the Merlin stories are a regular part of their bedtime ritual. What a wonderful way to build strong fluency skills in a young reader.