Tag Archives: Teaching reading

Encouraging Young Readers

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by Pat Lamb (Author of: Let the Children Come; Children, Come to Me; When the Stars Fall Down; Widening the Church Doors to Teach the Narrow Way; My Thinking Book; Love is…) Books are available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and patlambchristianauthor.com)

Train up a child…

Encouraging Young Readers

         Getting a child interested in reading at an early age is imperative to producing good readers for a lifetime.  Most children are eager to learn to read unless something has happened to discourage them. It makes them feel “big” and like older sisters and brothers or their mom and dad.  When this eagerness is present, teaching reading is easy. Some children, however, need some extra “oomph” to get them started reading or to stimulate them to want to read more and more.

         Of course, the first thing for any reader is to learn the alphabet and the sounds of the letters.  I remember teaching kindergarten near the Navajo reservation when I had the children say the letters of the alphabet each morning as I pointed to them.  We also said sounds for the letters.  Then, each day during rest time, I allowed the children to take books to their mats.  By the end of the school year, children were popping up like popcorn and excitedly exclaiming, “Teacher, I can read!”  I had also had group times with the children and put together words in the word families such as “cat, hat, sat, mat, pat, rat, bat, fat, rat, tat, and vat”.  I was careful to put no pressure on them to force them to learn to read. Had I tried to force them to read, they would not have enjoyed it so much.  I was privileged to have this same group of children to teach in second grade and they tested well above the national average in spelling.  One little Navajo boy always kept a book on the corner of his desk. As soon as he finished his math or other work, he would grab his book and start reading. Two years before, when he started kindergarten, he did not know how to speak English.  Reading helped him speak English as he learned about the things written in the books. 

         One way to stimulate interest in reading is to sit with the child and write a story that the child dictates and make it into a book.  It should be a real life story.  I did this with my three-yr.-old granddaughter about picking raspberries.  She illustrated the book with crude pictures.  We read the book together several times.  She soon had it memorized.  She would sit on the couch with her legs crossed under her and read the book aloud over and over by herself.  

         For children who have learned to read and like to read a great deal, it is important to see that the correct reading material is provided.  In my opinion, many children’s books have little or no value other that saying words.  There are many good books that can help shape the character of a child.  

         A good rule of thumb for any reading material selected for children is to have the child read one page of the selected book.  If five words are missed on that page, the book is too difficult and an easier book should be selected.  It is important that children have books on an easy enough level to enjoy reading.  It is human nature to want to repeat those things that are enjoyable.  It is also human nature to want to avoid those things that are difficult or unpleasant.  

         A child who can read fluently discovers a whole new world.  It is easy to teach a child to read if we are patient and reflect the joy of reading through our own actions.

Children’s Books Should be Chosen Wisely

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by Pat Lamb (Author of: Let the Children Come; Children, Come to Me; When the Stars Fall Down; Widening the Church Doors to Teach the Narrow Way; My Thinking Book available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and my website, www.patlambchristianauthor.com)

Train up a child…

Children’s Books Should be Chosen Wisely

         It is so important that children have good books to read, and that children have good books read to them by parents, teachers, grandparents or others.  There is value in reading almost any book in that a child will improve reading skills.  However, there can be much more value obtained than just improving reading skills if careful selection of those books is made.

         What makes a book especially good for a child?  There are some things to consider in making a wise choice of a book.  Whether a child is to read the book for self or an adult is to read the book to the child, content should be considered.  If the child is to read the book, a book should be selected that is easy enough for the child to read to be enjoyed. Also, illustrations in books are more important than one might think.

         Every day thousands of books come from publishers.  There is a great amount of competition in the marketplace.  Quite often children’s books are written to sell rather than written for the real benefit of the child.  Publishers do not want to go to the expense of publishing a book unless they think it will sell.  This results in book content that is popular and may not do very much to help the child’s character or knowledge.  Personally, I like books that do more than simply improve reading skills.  Why not “kill two birds with one stone” and teach valuable lessons while entertaining the child and developing reading skills.  Some of the older stories in books in school did just that.  I was in one school library that had four copies of The Boxcar Children.  The covers were almost off and the books were ragged because they had been checked out so much.  The Boxcar Children teaches resourcefulness and lets the child’s mind wander into the area of “what if I had to take care of myself?”  It stimulates a great deal of thinking. 

         To choose a book for a child to read, a good rule of thumb is to have the child read one page in the book.  If the child misses five words, the book is too difficult for that child.  It is better to choose books easy enough for a child to enjoy than to try to force the child to learn too many new words all at once.  The more a child reads, the more fluent s/he becomes in reading, and new words will be picked up a few at a time.

         Illustrations in books can greatly affect the concepts children get from the reading.  I am appalled at some of the illustrations in Bible story books that I have seen.  Some of those illustrations border on being ridiculous and give children warped ideas of what Bible characters were really like.  It seems that in an effort to make the books interesting, outlandish illustrations are created.  In my opinion, those illustrations affect the child’s learning of the truth of the Bible.

         Children’s books are very expensive.  Some are worth the money, but many are not.  Going to the library is a good alternative to spending the money, but sometimes a child will cherish a book as a personal treasure and want to own it.  At any rate, whether a book is purchased or checked out from the library, we need to be sure it is worth the time, money or effort involved.

Note:  Next Saturday, Feb. 1, I will have my books at the Meet the Author Festival at Kimberling Library from 9:30 AM until 2 PM.  My latest book, “My Thinking Book”, is a children’s devotional book that children on third grade reading level or above can read for self.  It is also good for parents to read and discuss with a child.