I'm a Mom - What's Your SuperPower?

During the preschool years, many young children will be able to recite or sing the alphabet. They may begin to recognize familiar letters, especially letters in their own names. Children who have been read to frequently pretend to read books to themselves or to their toy dolls and animals. They use their own words or phrases from the story. But preschoolers do not simply wake up one morning able to read and comprehend a story. It takes time and plenty of support from parents and teachers.  Here are some tips for helping younger children become readers for life. Read and reread your young child’s favorite books every day.  Reading books with rhymes helps develop a child’s awareness of the sounds in our language. This ability is associated with reading success in the early grades. An example is in the book “Green Eggs and Ham ”. The repetitive refrain, “I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them Sam I am.” is memor...

How old was your child the first time you read to them? I think my first time reading to my daughter was somewhere between "The test is positive" and "We can see you are about 8 weeks along." I don't remember the exact date, but I do remember the story. It was Dr. Suess "Oh, The Places You Will Go." I kept reading out loud throughout my pregnancy. It didn't matter what the book was because back then, I just wanted her to hear my voice, no matter how muffled it might be. After my daughter made her entrance, we continued the habit by reading to her every night before the first attempt to convince her she needed sleep. We still have the bedtime story ritual every night, only now that she is much older, she is the one who reads to us. She loves books . She loves to read. And she loves to make up her own stories and comic books.  Obviously, you don't need to start as early as I did. I was so excited that I was fina...