COMMUNITY HEAD START FAMILY LITERACY PROGRAM

THE IMPORTANCE OF READING TO YOUNG CHILDREN It’s very important to read to young children because their reading skills are important to their success in school and work. In addition, reading can be a fun and imaginative activity for children, which opens up all kinds of imaginary worlds. Also reading and writing are important ways we use language to communicate.

Reading with your child is a great activity. It do not only teach your child that reading is important to you, but it also offers them a chance to talk about the book, and often other issues will come up as the book is being read. Books can really open the lines of communication between parent and child.

Reading to young children also enhances their reading skills, which are: Phonemic awareness,-Being able to hear, identify, and play with individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. Phonics—Being able to connect the letters of written language with the sounds of spoken language. Vocabulary—The words kids need to know to communicate effectively. Reading comprehension—Being able to understand and get meaning from what has been read. Fluency (oral reading)—Being able to read text accurately and quickly.

RESOURCES FOR STORY TIME/MUSIC TIME Early Childhood Music and Movement Association URL: Description: Links to early childhood music resources and readings. The Perpetual Preschool URL: Description: Free music activities and ideas for parents and teachers. Story Resources Top Story Sites Directory URL: Description: This site contains a directory of story related resources.

Children's Music Portal URL: Description: This site contains early childhood music resources for parents and teachers. Children's music by independent artists is also featured. Free Kids Music URL: Description: MP3 song downloads - free, legal MP3 downloads from a site exclusively dedicated to music for young children. Boopadoo URL: Description: Kids Music & Early Childhood Music Education Resources - Free kids music downloads, coloring pages, kids sheet music, music activities, music software, music reviews, music posters, and more - Boopadoo! ABC Home Preschool URL: Description: A resourceful site for parents teaching their children preschool at home. It is the site of the original “use and reuse” wipe-off ABC Home Preschool Workbooks – 9 month curriculum. Music Teacher's Resource Site URL: Description: Many free resources for teachers including teaching ideas, lesson plans, and much more! Most of the information is for secondaryhttp://

music (ages 11-18). Miss Jackie URL: Description: Children's music, ideas, activities, and inspirations! Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer URL: Description: Grammy (Tominey, N.D.)

HOW TO DECIDE APPROPRIATE BOOKS FOR YOUNG LEARNERS Reading together is a very special activity to share with a child. With age- appropriate books, children can become delighted with reading at a young age. Here are some ways to select books preschoolers will enjoy! For 2 year olds select: Books with things to touch, move and play with – pop-up, lift-the-flap and texture books, simple, short stories about familiar topics, like babies or animals, stories with repetition or rhyme, and simple colorful pictures, and sturdy board books, with pages they can turn by themselves. Three and four-year-olds have longer attention spans, and may be able to sit for 20 minutes or longer while reading and talking with you about a book. Remember that children in this age group still have difficulty distinguishing between fantasy and reality, so while they will enjoy fantasy books, some fantasies might frighten them.

Preschoolers choose: Stories about things or activities that are familiar to them (a trip to the zoo, a birthday party, etc.) Picture vocabulary books and alphabet books – they love to learn new words and recite their letters Books about animals and adventures; Funny books with riddles or jokes Books with rhymes and repetition which they will often memorize and recite along with you. Simple factual books, particularly for those children who have very specific interests like trucks, trains, dinosaurs, fire engines or fish. Tips for Making Reading with A Child A Special Time: Sit in a comfortable place, close to your child, or with your child on your lap. A young child will associate the warm feeling of being close to someone who loves them with the pleasure of reading. Read or look at the book at a pace with which your child is comfortable. Even the youngest two-year-olds enjoy selecting their own books. Let your child pick what she/he would like to read from the family collection, or go to the library and let your preschooler select books to borrow. If your child does not want to be read to, don’t force the issue. Reading time should be fun, not stressful. Some children will happily enjoy having a conversation with you, or they might prefer to play a word game or enjoy making up a story with you. The oral communication and the one-on- one time are often equally valuable to looking at a book.(2002)

TITLE OF BOOKS THAT BENEFITS EACH TYPE OF LITERACY/EXPLANATION OF WHY THESE BOOKS WILL BENEFIT EACH TYPE OF LITERACY? Little Bear Go Dog Go! The Very Busy Spider The Very Hungry Caterpillar The Magic School Bus Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! The Ginger Bread Man Little Miss Spider One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

Reading these books will benefit young learner’s by enhancing and developing their vocabulary, listening and speaking, alphabet recognition, and literacy skills.

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REFERENCES Tominey, Shauna; ources.html ources.html The Parent-Child Program;2002; ose_Books/The Parent-Child Program;2002; ose_Books/ esources/book-list/favorites- classics/beginning-readers-ages-6-7http:// esources/book-list/favorites- classics/beginning-readers-ages-6-7