Recently I attended a Read Aloud Workshop at my son’s school, designed for Reception class parents (4-5 year olds kids’). It was about the crucial role of reading aloud in building academic success.
Mr Jeff Comer ( A teacher and Librarian) and Ms Cathay Zhang ( head of Primary Chinese) were extremely inspiring.
Most of
us already know it’s important to read, but it’s always nice to be reminded and encouraged. I found the talk very valuable, and wanted to share some of what I learned with you. I hope you’ll find it helpful too.
Don’t push the kids to be early readers too soon
Let children be children. Phonics books done repetitively can be very boring. The content is also very limited. In Hong Kong, there’s immense pressure to push the children to become early readers, or even pushing children into chapter books too soon. You don’t want to take the passion away from books, and it is such a shame to be missing all the sophisticated lovely picture books. What they have found is that once children start to read, by Year 2, 3 or 4, 9 out of 10 parents would have stopped reading.
Don’t stop reading to them
It is an intimate bonding time between parents and child. It also gives children access to more challenging books that they might not be able to read independently.
Children can be very sensitive, through books we can teach them consequence, and we can communicate our values. “ It helps them to view situations from various perspectives. “ It can also be used as a sort of therapy. For kids that are shy, we could read to them books about fear and courage. For kids that are too proud, we can share with them stories on humbleness.
Better reading comprehension
Ms Zhang shared with us her experience with her daughter. Her daughter said to her, “ Mother, I have a test tomorrow, but don’t worry, it is only reading comprehension, it’s second nature to me”. Isn’t that amazing? All the reading over the years has allowed her daughter to decipher stories extremely easily and quickly.
Written and spoken language
There is a huge gap between Chinese spoken and written language, the earlier the exposure to written language the better. The amazing array of books allows the kids to be exposed to so much vocabulary, beautiful sentence pattern and language.
Make it pleasurable
Last but not least, let it be always FUN. Kids learn best when they are having fun. The books you choose should be books that give both you and the child pleasure.
The kids have such an amazing memory, most of the time they won’t be able to read, but they’ll have remembered enough to tell you the whole story, perhaps even recite the lines.
I feel so blessed that my son is in such good hands, amongst these passionate teachers. I must admit, I also tried to push my son to become a reader, and he absolutely resented it. I wish to express my sincerest thanks to Mr Comer and Ms Zhang for reminding me what’s truly important … a passion for reading.
