Will your child be a reader?

I'm reading Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain, by Maryanne Wolf, a researcher who explains, among other things, how the brain learns to read.

She underscores how essential it is that children be read to often:

"Learning to read begins the first time an infant is held and read a story. How often this happens, or fails to happen, in the first five years of childhood turns out to be one of the best predictors of later reading."

In other words, reading to your child (and don't worry about the "first five years" stuff - the later years are just as important) gives him a huge leg up in terms of becoming a great reader.

This is a wonderful book with great insight on the subject. And you can thank me for reading it so you don't have to, because frankly it can be a bit of a slog. But don't worry, I'll bring you the highlights. Yer welcome. Also, I borrowed this image from the Chapters/Indigo site, which is why it says it's 24% off. But why 24 and not 25? A marketing enigma.

Read to your child every night

Every night? Every night.

Reading to your child could be the single most important thing you do to turn your child into a great reader. And if for some reason you "can't" read to your child every night, forthwith are my reasons why, in fact, you can.

*He's too tired.

(Make it a short book. Or a poem. Here's "Hoppity," a beautiful, lyrical poem by A. A. Milne that's fun to read and won't take up any time.)

*I'm too tired.

(Keep your eye on the prize - you're creating a reader.)

*It's boring.

(Get a book you'll both enjoy. He may want the same book every night, and that's fine for him but adults get bored with the same thing every night. So get Mary Poppins. There's something interesting on every page. Plus, you can burst into song - or English accents - if you want.)

*My child won't.

(Either you haven't found the right book, or he's somehow gotten the impression that it's optional. Stay your ground. Make the book fun by using silly voices. For inspiration, check out how Robert Munsch reads to kids.)

*I can't read.

(Get a book on CD. And by the way, how are you reading this blog? You can too read!)

*My husband puts him to bed, and he won't read to her.

(Then read to your child during her bath. Or during snacktime. Or colouring-time.)

Read to your child every night. It's really, really important.

Hoppity, by A. A. Milne

Hoppity by A. A. Milne

Christopher Robin goes
Hoppity, hoppity,
Hoppity, hoppity, hop.

Whenever I tell him
Politely to stop it, he
Says he can't possibly stop.

If he stopped hopping,
He couldn't go anywhere,
Poor little Christopher
Couldn't go anywhere...

That's why he always goes
Hoppity, hoppity,
Hoppity,
Hoppity,
Hop.

Tag helps kids read, learn

"Tag" could be a great learning device for your not-big-on-reading child.

It's essentially a wireless, electronic pen. When you poke a special "Tag" book with it, the book talks. Kids can hear the story, listen to the characters speak, play games and identify words.

You have to use the Tag books, and currently there are about 20 of them including Click Clack Moo - Cows that Type, The Little Engine that Could, Diego, Spongebob Square Pants, The Little Mermaid, Cars, and my favourite - Olivia.

The system is a lot like LeapPad, which is being phased out. My son grew up on LeapPad, and to this day says things like, "Ginko leaves have been around since the dinosaurs." He learned that from LeapPad. Tag is like LeapPad except it's wireless.

Tag is also intuitive. Kids just poke the pen anywhere on the book to get the information they want. And, if this system is developed like LeapPad, there will soon be many more titles and games to choose from.

Tag is $59.99 (Canadian) at Toys R Us online.

It's also great because it works for a wide range of ages, from very little children (parents just have to make sure they don't rip the book), up to about grade 1. LeapPad also had books for older kids, and I'm hoping the Tag line will extend to higher grades as well.

Hallowe'en is for learning

No, not really - it's for candy and for zombies.

But in the midst of our Hallowe'en party today, I managed to sneak in some learning. We had hidden "eyeballs" (bouncy balls with corneas printed on them) in the backyard. Each child had to find five with their initials on them.

As I was telling them about it, I realized that not every child knew what "initials" were, or what their personal initials were. So I told them about how initials could be just for the first name, or for the first and last names.

And then we went through each person's name and shouted out their initials. So not only did they have treats, but we taught them a new trick.

This is a picture of the punch we had at the party. It had a hand in it. Fun.

Treating books with kindness

This goes along with my last post, about considering books as a "treasure."

Once you think of books that way, you can't help but have a certain reverence for them and this in turn reinforces the idea that they contain something valuable. Accordingly, I don't allow books on the floor, or to be thrown or stepped on. That's just not cool in our house.

Understandably, books get torn and damaged through everyday use - that's different. When they do get banged up, they're repaired as soon as possible. I don't make anyone feel bad about accidentally damaging a book, because if you feel you have to pussy-foot around books you'll be afraid to open them.

But really, you don't step on a treasure chest - you open it. And you savour the treasure.

How did I get my son to treat his books kindly? When I walk in his room and there's a book on the floor, I gasp. I say, "There's a book on the floor!" as if I just can't believe it. (And I kind of can't.) He got the message early on, and now he doesn't like to see a book mistreated either.

A book is a treasure chest

When I see a book, I think of it as a "treasure chest."

The person who opens the cover will discover infinite possibilities - excitement, emotion, great characters, facts, new ideas! When I leave a book on my son's bed for him to "find," it's like I'm leaving him buried treasure.

Sometimes I'll sweeten the pot a little. As I put the book down I'll say, "Hmph, I never knew that was the largest land animal! It's all in there." And then I'll walk out of the room, leaving him alone with this - treasure - to find.

Consider how different "books contain treasure" is from "reading is hard work." Who wants to open a book if it's going to mean work? Who doesn't want to open a treasure chest?!

An attitude shift from the parent is often all that's needed to elicit a big change in the child. Change the way you think about books, and so will your child.