Reading with your child

By Christianne Meneses Jacobs

When you read a book with your child, you are modeling what good readers do and what reading sounds like. Reading is an activity that you can do anywhere at any time. You can enjoy reading at home, the park, the library, the bus, the train, the car, a comfy couch and the bed.
Early readers, which are books designed for young children that are learning to read, are divided into levels from 1 to 4: 1 pre-reader, 2 emergent reader, 3 developing reader and 4 independent reader.

Pre-reader and emergent reader books are very important for very young children because they introduce concepts of print (reading left to right, letter/sound correspondence), vocabulary and decoding skills that are necessary to become a successful reader. When using these books follow these recommendations:

Talk about each picture before you read,

Make some predictions and inferences by thinking out loud,

Read the book to your child,

When reading, point to the words and stop to talk about the meaning of the words,

Your child begins to associate the sound with the letter it represents,

Let your child read the story back when he/she is familiar with it,

Allow your child to make mistakes and self-correct,

Praise your child’s reading abilities

Enjoy the time you are spending together.