Book Worm

Hooty loves to read. It’s amazing how she picks up words. Her school adopts a great way to reading. The kids are shown the words and sort of make them familiar with it, so that the next time they see it they know instantly what the word is rather than use phonetics. It’s great that they are starting so young. I don’t think I was able to read until I was about seven!

Hooty can identify 1 to 4 letter words like: I, me, too, are, one, two, you, look, ball and so on. She loves to read so much that sometimes we have to tell her, ‘No! that’s enough” and sometimes she would cry and beg us to let her read more ;o).

Every time before bedtime stories we would have to tell her, “Hooty, we are going to read this book only so many (3 or 4) times. After that lights out.” Otherwise, she will go on and on reading the same story.

I’ve got her a few great books which have only 1 to 4 letter words and the school too sends similar books for them to read.

She also loves online books (high tech kids!). The National Library here offers lovely e-books which have read aloud features and animations, and Hooty loves going through them. She can fully control the compuer on her own--select the book she wants, turn the pages, follow instructions and even decide whether she need to "Play Again".

Being a bookworm myself, I hope Hooty keeps her enthusiasm to read as she grows.



Note: Just after posting this I visited one of my favourite parenting sites and guess what the topic was!

Hello from ParentCenter!Ready to Read?

Your 4-year-old now: Preschoolers who read independently are the exception. These early readers use picture clues and have learned to match letters to sounds and words. They may have longer attention spans and have memorized a few sight words. (Sight words are common words like "and," "the," "her," and "there" that can't be learned through pictures.) If your child is an early reader, you don't need to do anything more than offer encouragement and provide plenty to read.

If your child isn't on the fast track, don't give it another worry. At 4, many children just aren't ready to sit still and focus on a book for long. Others may learn the mechanics of reading but aren't cognitively ready to comprehend the words. Reading is truly one of those skills that children acquire when they're darn well ready, no matter how much their parents or teachers coax. In fact, too much prodding can turn your child off reading.

Right now, it's most important to get your child excited about books. If he loves stories and language, he'll start putting the basic elements together on his own when it's right for him. That happens at age 5 for some kids, 6 or 7 for others.

Comparing your child's abilities to his peers' is an irresistible impulse that persists long after those infant developmental milestone charts have been left behind. Among parents of 4-year-olds, reading is a topic that can cause a lot of anxiety, especially when those first few kids start reading. Whether you have an early bird or a kid who's more on track with his age-mates, what's important now is to keep the books coming.


Also check out these from the same site:
How to choose books for the beginning reader

When is my child going to learn to read