Jj is for Jottings 16: Keep Reading to your Children.

Now that the school year is beginning it’s a good time to remind parents that, just because your child is learning to read, it doesn’t mean that it is time to stop reading to THEM. (That’s not shouting – it’s already bold and the underlining didn’t come through on the post.) I have noticed that, when I question “my” children (clients) about whether stories are read to them at home, an alarming number indicate that they have never had stories read to them (and these children usually have no idea about how to handle a book); some still have stories read to them (yay!); and some used to be read to, but since they began school and are bringing home readers, their parents listen to their readers in place of reading to the children. It is vital to do BOTH. I know it adds time to a busy life, but they’re only young once and it’s definitely worth it because it contributes to their success and happiness. (It should be noted here that I take what younger children say to me with a grain of salt – they don’t always perceive things accurately as a result of their limited experience, so some who say they don’t have stories read to them may actually be read to, but there are many who would be presenting an accurate picture.)
The books we read to our children usually have a much more complex level of language and a broader range of topic than the readers they bring home. In this way children are exposed to information that is outside their direct experience. I was reminded of this vividly last year when I was reading a little story to a child with a particular sound error. The story was heavily weighted with this sound to give him practice in saying the sound correctly in sentences when answering questions about the story. The story was about a boy making a sailing boat and taking it to a canal to try it out. Not surprisingly, my student had not heard of a canal, so he received a lesson on canals and, since I’ve been in a narrow boat on a canal, he also had locks explained to him – why they are necessary and how they work – adjusted to the child’s level of understanding, of course.
In addition to expanding a child’s knowledge and vocabulary through reading to them, it also provides excellent practice in maintaining listening attention, which is so important both in education and in everyday life.
As mentioned elsewhere, I used to read to my children at the dinner table through to late primary school. I did it to share with them books that I had loved as a child or, as they grew up and we moved on to books of an increasingly high level, as an adult. We talked about the books, of course, and I occasionally see glimpses of the positive effects of doing that, even now in their late 20s and early 30s.

You’ll need to go back to the pictures from Jottings 12 and 13 to get the sequence. The coast is now clear and Marshmallow is making a determined advance on the dog food.