Parenting In Focus: There’s more to reading than just reading

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, May 3, 2023

Reading should be fun, books should be fun. But reading and books offer a great opportunity to teach your child, to have fun, and to learn.

Begin by finding a book that is of interest to your child. Pay attention to the books your child looks at in the bookstore. And when you bring the book home, see if he picks it up and looks at it. If he doesn’t, tempt him. Look the book over before you read it together. Give him clues about the book. When it is reading time, suggest the new book you brought home.

Just looking at the cover, see what he thinks the book is about. Ask if he has read any other books about the same subject. Did he like the other book? Then you are ready to begin.

As you read together, stop and talk about what is going on from time to time. Be sure to let him stop you when he has something to say about what is happening in the story.

After you’re done, talk about the book with him (this only works if he is at least a toddler or preschool-age child). This will help him think about what he has read. If he is younger don’t expect him to answer the question, but talk about the answers so he can hear what you have to say.

Ask questions, but not all at once; just a few at a time will keep his interest. Ask which part of the book he liked the best or the least. What part was the funniest? Scariest? Happiest? Why does he think the boy did what he did? What would happen if … ?

Remember, you are trying to get him to think about what he has just read about in his new book. When he learns how to do this, it will help him in school when the teacher asks about what he has read.

It will also teach you about picking out books to give him for the coming holiday. It is always fun to see your child learning and understanding more and more what he is reading.

Another hint about books

Let your child see that you don’t know all the answers to his questions. If you need to, go to another book to find the answers. Dictionaries and other books may provide the answers he is looking for. This teaches your child another value of books. It teaches him to think about books to find the answers he is looking for.

He needs to learn this because too many children don’t know the right places to go for answers. One additional source for answers is on the internet. This is a source worth showing him. It is nice to have him learn that you can do more on the computer than play games.

Cynthia Martin is the founder of the First Teacher program and former executive director of Parenting Matters Foundation, which published newsletters for parents, caregivers and grandparents.