Talk to Your Children (and Interact With Them with some great books!)

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I work as a Reading Specialist in the public school system and often parents ask me how they can help their child become a better reader.  There are many strategies and interventions to help school age children. However, I want to be able to turn back time and help the parent when the child was a baby, a toddler, and a preschooler.  

​Learning to read or becoming a reader doesn’t start in school. It starts day one. And it doesn’t start with just books. Inside of books are words and those words create a language your child will listen to and learn. So, yes please read to your child from day one, but honestly the most important thing to do is talk and interact with your child from day one.
I discovered a great article called Promoting Language With Books. The full article can be found here. But I wanted to highlight a few of their key points.

1. Children need to hear many words often.

“The average child’s vocabulary when he starts school is roughly 5000 words. This means that between the ages of one and five, children learn (on average) approximately 3.5 words every day. In order for this to happen, children need lots of exposure to language. And it’s not just how much children hear, but also what they hear that matters. Several studies have shown that children benefit from exposure to unfamiliar vocabulary (words they don’t hear in everyday conversations, like “damp”, “purchase”, or “frightened”)”

1. Children learn words when they are interested

“Children learn language best when adults follow their lead by joining in their play and talking about their interests. Research has shown that parents who follow their child’s lead and use language related to their child’s interests tend to have children with more advanced vocabularies [1].”
“Books spark children’s interest because they have illustrations with bold colors and topics of interest to young children. Many children’s books offer imaginary topics (such as pirates, princesses, or dragons) that encourage conversation between parents and children. In addition, it’s easy for children to show their parents what interests them in a book, both with and without words (by pointing, gesturing, or drawing attention to a picture).”
3.     Children learn best when adults are responsive to them.
“Much research has shown that young children benefit from interactions with adults who do the following while interacting with them:

• continue children’s topics by responding to what they say with a related comment or question
• express a positive attitude
• use a variety of words and sentences [1]

The effect of parents’ responsiveness is so great that it has been linked to children’s:

• cognitive (thinking) skills
• achievement of developmental milestones
• school readiness
• vocabulary
• math abilities [1]

Books promote adults’ responsiveness because:

• it’s easy to join focus during a book and notice what a child is looking at and talking about. The calm, visual nature of the activity focuses the child, and this makes it easier for the adult to follow the child’s lead and respond to his or her interests.”

 
I really think this last one has a huge impact and is really the most important one. When a parent is interacting with a child and being responsive to them, they are not only making their kid smarter, but they are being a great parent and creating memories with their child. I’ve realized this with Harper. The more I actually play with him and interact with him the more well-behaved and happier he is. Most of the time when he is acting like a crazy little monkey, it’s because I’m not giving him my full attention.
 
4. Words are learned when meanings are made clear
It’s not enough to simply use new words during conversation or read them in a book. Children need to learn what words mean, and this happens when parents:

• explain what a word means
• point to pictures
• use their voice or gestures to explain the meaning of the word (for example, using a quiet voice when reading “he whispered in her ear…”)
• use a new word within a related context (e.g. talking about an “ankle” when having a conversation about body parts) [1]

Books can help parents teach children what words mean because:

• parents can use the illustrations to explain the meaning of new words
• the conversations that occur while looking at a book offer opportunities for parents to pause the story and explain what a new word means
• books often use the same new word on several pages of the book. This provides several opportunities to hear a new word used in a variety of sentences, and this helps children understand the word’s meaning.

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I saw this little chart on facebook today and while it’s a great little resource for writers, I thought what a great tool for parents!
When talking with your kids use this Very Useful Vocabulary Tool.

​So for example, when you are talking about things your child loves, like trucks, your conversation might sound something like this.
“Harper, do you see that big truck? That truck is very big. That’s a massive truck. The big truck is humongous. Do you see it? Wow what a humongous truck! Look how massive those tires are. Do you see them?”
 
Another great way to have conversations with your child is to find those look and see books.
 
Usborne has a few books that spark conversations or help parents interact with their child through a book. 

http://d5367.myubam.com/p/4459/very-first-book-of-things-to-spot
​d5367.myubam.com/p/4459/very-first-book-of-things-to-spot

http://d5367.myubam.com/p/5268/very-first-book-of-things-to-spot-at-home
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http://d5367.myubam.com/p/5562/very-first-book-of-things-to-spot-out-and-about
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These books are fantastic because there are so many interesting details on each page. And as an added bonus there are “parent prompts” on each page. These are helpful things to say to your child as you are reading the book. Things like:
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“Spot a cat wearing a scarf.”
“Who’s riding a bicycle?”
“Find a duck driving a car.”
“Which car has no wheels?”
 
And I swear this book taught my son the emotion of sadness. On one page it says, “Can you see an unhappy cloud?” And on another page it says, “Which monster is sad?”
After that every time he sees someone who is sad, he will say in a sad empathetic way, “Mommy. Awe. Sad.”


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Here’s another great conversation sparking book. 

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Who’s ready to play and lots of other questions
http://d5367.myubam.com/p/5543/whos-ready-to-play
Who’s Ready to Play? is just one of fifteen questions in this delightful picture quiz book for young children. There are twenty-four different animals and things to find on every page.  Both a memory game and a thinking game, Who’s Ready to Play? will keep toddlers and preschoolers actively engaged in books and reading. A test of observation and visual clues, it will have children creating their own stories as it familiarizes them with new words and activities.

Usborne also has a series of books called 1000 Things. These books would be great to spark conversation especially if your child has a particular obsession with the topic. These books don’t have parent prompts or questions, but once you are used to asking them questions with the Very First Book of Things to Spot you will become more comfortable with asking your own questions. 

http://d5367.myubam.com/p/5889/1000-things-under-the-sea

http://d5367.myubam.com/p/3706/1000-things-that-go

http://d5367.myubam.com/p/3714/1000-animals


Lastly, I found this super cute book that is slightly higher level. I'm excited to try this book with Harper. It's sort of like the first book of things to spot, but this one will require kids to use higher level inferencing skills. 

​In this charming book, each page asks the reader a question about the lineup of characters featured on the spread. Sharp eyes and keen observation are necessary. There's only one right answer, and it's not always easy! Kids will love learning early concepts like expressions and positions as a natural consequence of their hunt for clues in the details of the lineup. It's a book for all audiences: the seek-and-find call to action on every page makes Who Done It? a wonderful lap or parent read, while the whimsical art, distinctive horizontal format, and hip exposed board ensures this book will be equally appealing as engaging coffee table décor.

So what books do you love to use to talk and interact with your child? Leave a comment below if you have some great ones!