Making the most of reading with your child
Moms, I know that there are many expectations on you at the moment, to wear all the hats and juggle way too many things. You need to know that you’re doing better than you think! As a Speech and Language Therapist I believe that these moments together can actually be beneficial to your little one's growth, learning and development and I think it might be done in ways that are easier than you expected. Let me show you how you can use some of your normal routines in a more intentional way to stimulate and develop important language, literacy and critical thinking skills.
The benefits of reading to or with your children are well known. Not only does reading help to develop language skills, it increases exposure to new words and ideas thus expanding vocabulary. Reading helps to develop reasoning and logical thinking skills, and it is also nurtures a bond between mom and child as you share these moments together. Taking time to read together doesn’t have to be a chore or something you feel guilty about not doing enough of, but could be a quick and fun activity that can happen spontaneously during the course of a routine day in your home and will be teaching your child more than you realize.
Getting Started
Your child’s brain is going to be more receptive to learning when an activity is perceived to be fun, so try and encourage your child to choose the book that they want to read. You can always manage this by rotating the books on your bookshelf to create greater interest and intrigue. Try and see if you have any books that offer a pattern of rhyming words, these are an amazing tool to help develop an awareness of sound patterns in words which is an important phonological awareness skill. Find a new exciting place to read together, reading can be done in forts in your lounge, on top of jungle gyms, on picnic blankets in your garden and not always in bed just before bedtime. Try to sit as close as possible, this way you are communicating to your child that this moment has your undivided attention. If your child is old enough, let them hold the book and turn the pages which will give them a sense of control and will help to instill a love of books and reading.
Engage in the learning opportunities
Make the most of this one -on -one quality time with your child, talk about the front cover and the pictures. Read the title and ask your child to guess what they think the story will be about, this develops higher level language skills such as predicting and inferencing. Point at different items shown in the pictures and ask your child ‘What is this?’ to develop nouns and ‘What are they doing?’ to develop the use of verbs. You could also use these moments to develop your childs expressive language by expanding on their utterances, this means that you add language to what your child says for example if your child says ‘Look a dog’ you could repeat this phrase to them but add adjectives and grammar to lengthen the sentence ‘Yes, look at that very big black dog’. Reading together is also a great opportunity to develop vocabulary through the use of categorisation. “Can you see a ball on this page? There it is, a ball is a toy! You have lots of toys in your room can you think of any other types of toys?” If it is a book with rhyme, try not to finish off the sentence as you read, see if your child begins to learn the sound patterns and can choose an appropriate rhyming word to complete the sentence. Older children might enjoy being read to or perhaps you can alternate reading per page, a child who is a new reader can find words they recognise on the page or tell you what the initial sound in a word is and point to the letter that they recognise.
Can’t keep their attention?
If you struggle to sustain a reading activity with your busy child or a child that lacks interest in books, consider using very simple books with exciting pictures or silly books with funny story lines. Use gestures frequently by pointing at pictures or imitating actions to keep their attention on the book. Be confident and use different fun and silly voices whilst reading, this will not only keep them engaged but it will also develop their pragmatic skills as they begin to understand intonation and expression as you read.
Don’t stop there!
When you’re done reading the book, try and get your child to tell you what happened in the story, this will develop their sequencing skills as they place the parts of the story in the correct order. You can also encourage development of their memory skills as you ask them specific questions about the story. Develop your child’s interpretation of others’ emotions, feelings, and points of view by asking them reflective questions such as ‘Why do you think the teacher was so happy?” etc.
Learning doesn’t always have to occur in formalised ways, and frequently happens during natural interactions and play. Take the pressure off yourself and realise just how much your child is learning as you take a few minutes to read a book together.
Hi, I’m Amy, a Peadiatric Speech and Language Therapist currently employed at a primary school in Durban. I’ve been ‘locked -down’ with my husband in our flat overlooking the Moses Mabhida stadium. We have been enjoying slow mornings, sunsets from our rooftop and puzzling over how two people can accumulate a ridiculous number of dishes each day! I hope my knowledge and insight will be useful to help you not just endure but actually enjoy your days at home with your children and show you some simple and fun ways to engage and develop their beautiful minds.
Amy Wilkes
M.Sc. Speech Language Pathology
amysarahwilkes@gmail.com
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