Many parents and child educators believe in starting a home library of books for children as soon as they are born. In such households, picture books and starter readers will fill shelves in the nursery long before the toddlers even learn to say their first few words, much less read them.
The motivation here is to get very young children used to books as a normal part of daily life. If we implement this idea in our own homes, it might be wise to relegate the more expensive books to higher shelves and keep a few books within reach for the child. For these little ones surrounded by books throughout their early lives, initial experiences won't be of reading but rather lifting, shaking, scribbling on and tasting them!
Sound like a waste of bound paper? Some parents consider it a comparable waste of time and energy to read to their children before they are able to understand the words they are hearing. But the value of these early practices doesn't lie with a young child's logical ability to grasp reading but rather with his or her connection to the surrounding environment. What we are doing is making books - the sight, feel and sound of them - a familiar part of a child's world.
Children of baseball players will be intrigued and curious about the game - from seeing all those bats, balls, hats and catcher's mitts in the closet - long before they understand the rules of how to play it. Similarly, children who have always been around books will be more likely to read them, especially if they've perceived that reading is an activity that their parents enjoy.
The growing complexity of our society has made it necessary for people to be even more literate than ever before in order to make their way in the modern job market. There are two factors that can give young children an edge in this area before they even enter school: familiarity with books and reading as an integral part of their home environment, and the idea (reinforced by our own enthusiasm as parents) that reading is a pleasurable activity.
I grew up surrounded by books, and for years I'd assumed that everyone naturally loved to read. It was shocking to be confronted with the numbers of adults who didn't know how to read at all, could only read at a grade school level, or who just didn't derive any pleasure from it. Being accustomed to books and the words inside them at an early age can make all the difference in one's attitude towards them later in life. Our home libraries can provide the promise of a smoother, more pleasurable education for our children and a wider world of possibilities for them after they move on from school.
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Comments: 24
There's also an important bonding experience when you sit down to "read" with your children. I know that even before the words meant anything, we would hold our newborn children and read aloud to them, so that our voices were familiar and sentence structure, tone of voice, accents, and all manner of "sound" was part of our child's world.
As the family grew, reading with both, and then with all three boys together was important for the shared experience, and soon enough our eldest could help with the reading.
We did that with writing, too -- I'd sit down with pen and paper, and take dictation as they told me stories, sometimes all by themselves, sometimes as a team effort.
And, for babies, there are plastic books, cloth books, and board books that they can safely handle for themselves. The tactile books like Pat the Bunny are great, too.
I, too, grew up in a book-filled home, and was taught the alphabet by my older siblings long before I went to kindergarten.
There is an enormous and compelling amount of research that correlates academic achievement, general wealth of information, to early habits of reading and using words.
Jason, I could not agree more with your insights in this matter. I especially love the anaolgy of baseball. Most parents have some passion that they would be able to relate to your article.
Yes, books have come a long way. I've loved the book & tape or CD kits, that allow children to hear books read aloud while parents are busy with dinner prep or other tasks, but it is oh-so-important to have that one-on-one reading time. It's more than the books, it's the shared experience.
I myself and my children are avid readers and the smaller ones are great listeners. It is a great bonding time, and also a great way to teach toddlers how and when to sit quietly.
I did not really know that there were so many people that have reading problems, I know illiteracy used to be very widespread, and recently am finding out that it still is, and alot of people that are able to read are still classed as "partially illiterate". That is to say that they can read but do not have comprehension that you would need to follow a recipe or understand a newspaper. I have seen a man of 35 struggle with this and be stuck in minimum wage jobs and not be able to live on his own financially because of it. He is now trying to learn more and the struggle he faces as an adult to learn these things, lets just say I never want to see anyone else go through this.
I too am appalled at how few people read these days. And I don't go for the excuse about gaming or being online all the time instead of taking time to read because I'm do those things more than I should be too. I will always love to read and I try to instill my love for reading in everyone.
I attribute the accomplishments of our two daughters to the time we spent sharing books and making music with them when they were very young. It is a shame that so many parents fail to understand how this works. There seems to be this assumption that books are a waste of time until the kids can read for themselves. Why? holding them before they can hold you is okay, talking to them before they can talk back is okay, singing them a lullaby before they can sing back is okay.
A book is still the ultimate toy. I can remember when our nineteen year old when she was 7 months old and able to sit up, holding a little board book and looking at the pictures. We have to understand that imitation, sight, and hearing come first in a child's education. But humans are built to learn, and it does not take long.
Good article.
Please consider posting this at School and Society
GREAT ARTICLE.
I spent many hours of my childhood and teenage years at the public library. I revelled in the endless assortment of reading material.
Some people have books in their souls, and will seek them out no matter what the circumstances of their life.
maybe I missed it here..
do the kids SEE YOU READING?
It is vital to get them to!
great article!
I'm relieved, Pat D, that loving and reading books comes from the soul, and not always the family.