by Linda Hunter, Senior Director of Education at Pretend City Children’s Museum Offers Easy Steps to Promote Literacy in Your Home
Story
telling is something that is innately human and whether it is through
the pictures or words in a book, the process of discovery for children
can be life changing! I’m often asked by parents about what they can do
to encourage their children to be readers. The truth is that it’s
never too early to promote literacy and that reading is a wonderful way
to establish a special bonding time between you and your child. Most
adults can fondly reflect back to a time when an adult read them a
story. Carving time out of your day to spend with your child and engage
in a story together helps create a life-long pattern of valuing books.
Because
reading is one of the indicators of school success, we have a big
emphasis on it at Pretend City Children’s Museum through our Library
Exhibit and programming. Plus, we’ve dedicated the entire month of
September to honor National Literacy Month. So here are three easy tips
that can guide you to helping your child go bananas over books!
- Build familiarity. Find time on a regular basis to read with your child. No matter if children are 6-months-old or 9-years-old (they can read to you at that point). Make time, each and every day to include reading into your daily routine. Over time they will associate books with their cozy parent time. Children love repetition, they will want you to read the same book a thousand times and it doesn’t get old for them. It’s about making books a part of their life.
- Create dialogue. Look at pictures or read the words and before you turn the page, open a conversation with your child about the story. In their early years with picture books, it can be as simple as counting the number of shapes on the page with them. As they get older, realize that you don’t have to read something verbatim. Talk about the story and ask questions of your child such as: “What do you think will happen next?” A question like that helps to develop their critical thinking skills and engages them more deeply in the story and content. Books are amazing for introducing new concepts and new words and they are an avenue to present new information in a fun way.
- Tap into their interests. Think about what your child is interested in and find books that will go along with those themes. If your little one loves playing in the water, you can take that interest and transfer it into reading books about the ocean, ships, fish or surfing. It’s a way to scaffold information. If I have a 5-year-old who loves dinosaurs, use that as a base and find books to help him learn new aspects about prehistoric times. Digging deeper into what children are naturally interested in motivates them to learn to read words themselves and builds critical skills needed to develop focus and perspective. Over time, children will realize that books are a gateway to discovering more about all of their interests.
Linda Hunter, MA, LMFT
Senior Education Director and Chief Operations Officer, Pretend City
Linda
earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Human Development and Master's
Degree in Marriage, Family, and Child Therapy from the prestigious
Pacific Oaks College in Pasadena. Linda joined Pretend City in 2002
prior to its opening and has over 40 years of experience working with
children and families in both the fields of early childhood education
and family therapy.
About Pretend City Children’s Museum
Pretend
City Children’s Museum features a small, interconnected city designed
to “build better brains” through purposeful play, hands-on learning
experiences, role playing, and educational programming. As a non-profit
501(c)(3) organization serving all children, it depends on
community-based funding and guest support. Through 17 interactive
exhibits and activities guided by a highly trained professional staff,
children learn foundational math, reading and science skills, while
fostering curiosity, creativity, critical thinking, problem solving,
organization, teamwork, self-confidence and socialization. The museum
is a unique community resource offering developmental screenings and
tools for families, educators and community agencies working to ensure
that each child gains the experiences needed to discover their potential
and build toward a productive and fulfilling future. Pretend City
Children’s Museum is located at 29 Hubble, Irvine, CA 92618. For more
information, please visit www.pretendcity.org.
