I know folks who get a good laugh from comedian Brian Regan’s routine about missing the subtext of four-page baby books (http://www.cc.com/video-clips/kaedzf/baby-books):
“The clock.
The big clock.
Tick, tock.
The end.
Twelve dollars.”
Funny!
Would you assess easy readers this way too? For us adults, once we read a book we are done with
it. There are some we keep on our shelves because they are gorgeous collector items, and some to show off what we read. There are a few we just treasure and even re-read, perhaps annually, perhaps “someday”. Honestly, a book which costs five to twelve dollars which you read once to your kid? Once mastered,--read once-- don’t you want to move on? Wouldn’t it cost you a fortune to maintain a full enough library of easy readers, when your new reader will soon be ripping through and past these?
Well that children's book may not be so interesting to you after the first reading, but it is in fact crucially important to give your newly reading child the opportunity to read and re-read the same books, over and over. It is important that you permit your child to choose the same favorite book from the library, week after week. It is important that you read the same story requested, again and again and again. This is actually how children learn.
Your reader needs multiple opportunities to sound out, say, and hear the same words. Her inner ear is listening and embedding relationships between letters, between words, learning contexts, thinking about vocabulary and how to use and apply those words in other contexts. He is downloading grammar lessons and intuiting spelling rules. He will learn to play with these words.
Your reader needs to build the confidence of gradually reading that story, more and more smoothly,
again and again, until it is a basic on which she can rely, with assurance, to entertain a grandparent or younger sibling.
Yes, your reader is even memorizing the story. You may be dismissive, thinking it is a lazy way out of reading, to merely remember the words which go with the picture hints.
Memorization was once recognized as a valuable skill in education. Thankfully it has been replaced on its altar by critical thinking. Nevertheless memorization is also a tool in your child’s mental facilities. Once, literate people had been trained in memorizing and reciting poetry, Latin, catechism. Once even folks without access to advanced formal education had so learned the richly complex vocabulary to enjoy literature and theater, and to make and understand political arguments.
My daughter talked late as a toddler, but she demanded I read and reread aloud the entire Jungle Book by Kipling. When she did finally talk, she was able to recite it. ( If you don’t know the original Jungle Book stories, read it for the gorgeous music of the language and the fascinating political lessons and issues taught and learned by Bagheera, Baloo and Mowgli. What, then, does one need to know to live within, or without, a civilization?)
When she was able to write, she wrote poetically with a natural, beautiful voice, based on her Jungle Book's silent practice in her head.
Fortunately Kipling bore up to many repeated readings by an adult, without ever boring. Even with children’s picture books and easy readers I am a fussy audience. I want a book to have meaning to a child and not exclusively pathos for the adult, (as is sadly so common in popular children’s books!). And I want the story to have a humorous or sweetly grateful subtext for the adult. Share the laugh, let your child in on the joke! Show your pleasure in their story. Count your blessings aloud together.
Before you know it, your child will surprise you and make you laugh with connections he has learned to make, applying language and ideas from his books to new situations.
The investment in many easy readers from which to choose, for reading and rereading, is not so costly and very worthwhile. As your reader grows in ability, try sharing a box of readers with other families, rotating the stories round and back again, to expand your reader’s opportunities and tastes.
I have these right now with genuine realistic pictures, rather than more CGI graphics, since we are already sickened with so much screen time. To my mind, they are funny. Let me know what you think!
Start a lifelong exploration of the environment. Frog and Polliwog, (toads and tadpoles too)
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