It is never too early to encourage your children to appreciate picture books. Books help children to develop language skills and profoundly expand their vocabularies. Research shows that shared reading experiences enrich language exposure, foster positive attitudes towards reading, and increase listening, comprehension and vocabulary. Reading aloud to children creates wonderful connections. Through shared reading experiences children can make positive associations with books and reading that lay important foundations and a love of literature that follows them through life.
“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates loot on Treasure Island”
– Walt Disney
In each Prep classroom, educators create Reggio-inspired children’s library spaces. These are comfortable areas with an enticing variety of books. These spaces give children an opportunity to explore new genres of books and provide them with the opportunity to practice their book handling skills (for example holding the book correctly, turning the pages over from the top corner and looking at the words from left to right).
Each day the educators involve the children in shared reading experiences. It is a pleasurable activity for the children but at the same time, the educators are explicitly modelling the skills of proficient readers, by reading with fluency and expression. They demonstrate how the pictures add to the meaning of the text and expose them to rhymes and songs that build phonemic awareness of the different sounds that makes up words. Rereading familiar stories is also very important as it enables children to make predictions and build understanding. Predictable texts build sight word knowledge and allow the children to relate the story being read and to their own real-life experiences.
Sharing a book is a wonderful bonding time for families and incorporating an evening storytime into routines can be the perfect way to end a busy day. The more children are read to the more they will have positive memories and will see books as an essential part of life.
The Children’s Book Council of Australia’s (CBCA) annual Book Week returns in 2020 with the theme “Curious Creatures, Wild Minds”. The event takes place between 17 – 23 October. Every year, the CBCA holds a Book Week across Australia to promote the importance of reading and the joy that children can find in it.