kids reading at home every day.
The only way to get better at reading is to do it. A child spends approximately 900 hours a year in school and 7,800 hours outside of school. Please require your students to read at home! The research shows that student achievement is significantly bolstered by just 20 extra minutes of reading each day (Block, 2003).
Still hesitant? The following excerpts from The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease ought to convince you. Better yet, require your parents to read The Read-Aloud Handbook (especially the chapter called “Why Read Aloud?”)! |
|
| Home Information |
High Interest in Books (%) |
Low Interest in Books (%) |
| Number of book in home |
80.6 books |
31.7 books |
| Child owns library card |
37.5 |
3.4 |
| Child is taken to library |
98.1 |
7.1 |
| Child is read to daily |
76.8 |
1.8 |
|
Research shows that the seeds of reading and school success are sown in the home, long before the child ever arrives at school.
There are really only two efficient ways to get words into a person’s brain: either through the eye or through the ear. Since it is years before the eye of a young child is used for reading, the best source for ideas and brain building becomes the ear.
Reading aloud is the catalyst for the child wanting to read on their own. |
Reading aloud builds higher reading scores because listening comprehension comes before reading comprehension. If you’ve never heard a word, it’s unlikely you’ll ever say it. So, how are you going to read or write it?
The U.S. Department of Education’s 1999 Early Childhood Longitudinal Study found that children who were read to at least three times a week had a significantly greater phonemic awareness when they entered kindergarten than did children who were read to less often, and that they were almost twice as likely to score in the top 25% in reading.
Background knowledge is one reason children who read the most bring the largest amount of information to the table and thus understand more of what the teacher or the textbook is teaching. Children whose families take them to museums and zoos, who visit historic sites, who travel abroad, or who camp in remote areas accumulate huge chunks of background knowledge without even studying.
There is one prekindergarten skill that matters above all others, because it is the prime predictor of school success or failure: the child’s vocabulary upon entering school. Yes, the child goes to school to learn new words, but the words he or she already knows determines how much of what the teacher says will be understood. And since most instruction for the first four years of school is oral, the child who has the largest vocabulary will understand the most, while the child with the smallest vocabulary will grasp the least.
It’s the not toys in the house that make the difference in children’s lives; it’s the words in their heads.
Most conversation is plain and simple. It consists of the five thousand words we use all the time, called the Basic Lexicon. Then there are another five thousand words we use in conversation less often. Together, these ten thousand words are called the Common Lexicon. Beyond that ten thousand mark are the “rare words” and these play a critical role in reading. The eventual strength of our vocabulary is determined not by the ten thousand common words but how many “rare words” we understand. If we don’t use these rare words very often in conversation, where do we find them? Printed text – books and newspapers – contains the most rare words.
Four factors are present in the home environment of nearly every early reader:
- The child is read to on a regular basis.
- A wide variety of printed material is available in the home.
- Paper and pencil are readily available for the child.
- The people in the home stimulate the child’s interest in reading and writing by answering endless questions, praising the child’s efforts at reading and writing, taking the child to the library frequently, buying books, writing stories that the child dictates, and displaying his paperwork in a prominent place in the home.
If this idea of a reading requirement puts you off, think about this: if you require a child to pick up his room or brush his teeth but don’t require him to read, then it’s obvious you think household and personal hygiene are more important than the child’s brain. Oh, and don’t tell your child to go read for twenty minutes while you watch television.
Oprah understands that we’re an oral species. When we see a good movie, a good ball game or a great concert – the first thing we want to do afterward is talk about it. Oprah simply walks out to her audience of twenty-two million in 119 countries and talks about the books she’s selected. She talks about the books animatedly, passionately, and sincerely. No writing, no tests, no dumb dioramas to make, just good, old-fashioned enthusiasm for something she’s read.
Harry Potter has children willingly reading books that are nine time longer than Goosebumps and twice as long as Heidi. The fantasy is rich and the cheeky humor is very appealing, but there’s something else, too. The Harry Potter books are entirely “plot-driven.” Children want page-turners, just like adults do. How about a nod to J.K. Rowling and her little wizard for the impact they might have had on vocabulary and comprehension?
|
