Nurturing reading

Before getting started, it is important to remember that there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to sit and read with your child. The most important thing is that you both enjoy and value this time together. It is very precious!

Sometimes you may want to sit beside your child or have them on your lap. Be sure to speak close to the microphone of your child’s hearing aid or cochlear implant processor when you sit like this. Sometimes you might want your child to see your face and lips as you read and talk about the story together.
These tips can help your child develop their love of books and reading:

• Choose a quiet environment, and sit comfortably alongside your child.
• Don’t worry if your child wants to flick through the pages quickly – remember little and often is the best way to encourage them to start enjoying reading.
• If your child really doesn’t yet enjoy books, there are other activities which can also help develop similar skills – we will explain more about these later in this article.
• Avoid asking lots of questions (such as “Where’s the duck?”, “Can you point to the tree?”). Instead, focus on commenting on what you see (such as “The boy is kicking the ball”, “Look at that tall tree!”, “I like that orange house”). Commenting rather than questioning leads to a more ‘shared’ and enjoyable experience for your child, and gives them opportunities to hear language modelled alongside the pictures they are looking at.
• You can also emphasise any sounds or noises in the story, such as “Craaasssshhhh!” or “Knock, knock, knock!” – Your child may enjoy joining in with these once you have read the book a few times.
• Emphasise language that describes emotions and feelings shown in the book, such as “The boy is sad, he has lost the ball”, “The dog is tired, he is sleeping.”

It’s never too early to start enjoying books together. Sharing books by looking at them together and you commenting on the pictures that interest your child your child will foster his/her curiosity for books. When your child is very young, encourage your child to use his/her voice as you look at books together.

Enjoying books together helps develop your child’s ability to understand you and to tell you a story, alongside developing their listening skills and their vocabulary. If you find books with rhyming words, you might find that your child copies the intonation they hear as you read to them.

When you and your child first begin to look at books together, you will read to them and tell them the story. They will listen.

As your child begins to understand your words, they are developing their auditory learning skills. Auditory learning is learning that is acquired through listening.

At this stage in your child’s development, auditory learning will becoming increasingly important because when they begin school he/she will need to learn by listening to what his/her teacher is reading or saying (such as when the teacher gives directions). So in the years before he/she starts school, your focus should be on developing your child’s auditory learning ability.

Books provide the perfect opportunity for helping your child with auditory learning. When you and your child first begin to look at books together, read or tell the story to your child and also comment on what you can see in the pictures. Your child will listen, developing his/her auditory learning skills. And don’t forget about experience books – as discussed later in this article. The earlier you begin to make them, the more you and your child will have to look at together.

At the age when your child can participate in reading and telling stories, reading books together will help your child develop his/her vocabulary and language skills – both receptive language (what your child understands) and expressive language (what they can say).

Most children love to hear a story over and over until they are able to tell it themselves with only a few words or prompts from you. You can encourage your child to reach this level by giving them the opportunity to finish a sentence in the book. For example, “… and the moon is behind the _____.” Can your child say the word? If not, ‘model’ the word by saying it for them and then repeat the sentence, again leaving out the last word. Pause just briefly. If your child cannot ‘fill in the blank,’ do it for them and continue with the story.

You can also encourage your child to tell you the story. Listen to the words they use. Is your child using all the ‘object’ words (nouns)? And what about the ‘doing’ words (verbs)? Help your child add a few more words each time they tell you the story. And, as always, tell your child what a great job they are doing.

As you introduce your child to new words in the books you read together, try to use these words in everyday conversation as much as possible. As you well know, the best way to teach your child language is to keep talking, talking, talking!

Written words are all around us. You want your child to begin to associate printed words with spoken language. A simple and enjoyable way to start your child on the road to literacy is to point out his/her name on envelopes, clothing labels – anything and everything with his/her name on it. The more often you do this, the sooner your child will begin to associate print with something important such as his/her name.

Take advantage of the printed words that are already in your home and community. You can read street signs and labels to your child. As you drive to the supermarket, point out traffic and street signs: “Stop. The sign says ‘Stop.’ We need to stop now.” You can go for a walk and look at your street sign, “Prospect Road. We live on Prospect Road.”

Does your child have a favourite place to eat? Show them the sign while you say the name. Then look at the menu together. Is there a picture of a pizza or of a hamburger? Show it to your child as you point to and say the word, “You want pizza.” Point to the word as you say it, “Pizza.” It won’t be long before your child begins to understand that letters have meaning.