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June 27, 2007
Getting Ready to Read
Yesterday I talked about getting ready to go to Kindergarten. It can be a surprising undertaking for many. Once the initial shock is over, then we move on to more engaging subjects like getting ready to read, a big step again for both Mom/Dad and your child.
To me, the most important thing you can do before a child picks up his first book, is to talk. Talk about everything you see, do, hear, taste, and feel. Building a child’s vocabulary is a key to being a good reader.
Let me show you what I mean. I want you to think of the word “dog.” What pops into your head? Usually it’s a picture of a dog. It could be any kind, but it’s probably one you know. Now if I say “small dog,” you might revise your picture to a Chihuahua or a terrier. If I say “dachshund” you would change it again. You might not have the same color in mind as I do, but you know what I was talking about.
You’re an adult so you have a lot of pictures in your brain. I bet if I said “Ferrari,” you could come up with some interesting ones. Your child doesn’t have those pictures yet. He or she doesn’t have the years of experience you do. Your job as a parent is to help him obtain those pictures of words. When you talk to your child, visit a farm or a zoo, or read them a story, you’re providing pictures for his brain.
Once an active vocabulary is developing, you can begin to move into the same spoken words being written words. Saying dog brings up a picture. The word “dog” on the page of a story brings up the same picture. At first you’ll read the word to him. It won’t be long, though, before he’s heard the story enough to be able to see the word, know it’s “dog” and see his own picture. We’ll talk later about how he recognizes the word, but for today, just know he needs the word and the picture first.
If a child doesn’t have any experience with the word “dog,” the spoken word is going to mean nothing. It’s like saying to me “kem.” That could be a word of three letters with a vowel in the middle just like dog, but “kem” has no meaning to me. I have no picture for it. If your child has no experience with the word “dog,” it would be like saying what a cute “kem.” Nothing pops up. So give them experiences, experiences with all kinds of dogs. Then move on to kitties, zebras, corn fields, and locomotives. He'll need experiences with all kinds of words to carry on conversations with you and then translate those word picures into what he hears and reads. So plan lots of experiences and use the words many times so he can hear them, say them, and use them.
When he's ready to read, he will need that picture vocabulary as he recognizes the words on a page. The more word pictures he has, the easier it is for a child to unlock/decode a word and then bring up his own visual of what that words is. When he can’t bring up a visual, reading becomes hard if not impossible.
So the activity for today is TALK, build a vocabulary. Build a working, pictured vocabulary and help your child take his first steps into reading.
Posted by Dr Joni at June 27, 2007 07:55 AM
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