Building a Reader…the foundation

Before we can take a journey into literacy we need to lay the foundation to start from. Parents have read to their children starting from the time they are in the womb. We know that reading to our children early on and exposure to books will help build a reader. The more our children read the better readers they become. In fact, articles have been popping up all over the internet, newspapers and magazines claiming that studies now show reading makes you not just a better reader but also a happier, nicer, smarter and more of a leader. 

I remember reading to both my children while I was pregnant. My husband would also read to them. Being a teacher and a fanatic of books I knew that I would read and expose my children to books from the moment they took their first breath. We read to our children day in and day out. We read when they sat in the tub and when they sat on the potty. I can recall when my oldest daughter, Sofia, started talking. Her first word was "outside" followed by "broccoli". She always had an extensive vocabulary as a young child. It likely came from a Mary Engelbreit book my hubby read to hear nightly. I still remember vividly when my husband ran into the room to announce our daughter had read to him. 

She was barely 2. 

I asked him to describe what she did. So, he demonstrated. He held the book out and read the words and she started "reading" them with him. Now, I know she wasn't actually sounding out the words. She had memorized the words and pictures just as you would to a favorite song you listen to daily. So was she reading?

Well, kind of.  You see reading is built upon. She was learning the connection between the words you speak and the words you see. She was learning that you follow the words on a page. She was beginning to understand the connection of the pictures to the words. The connections were being built. The foundation was being laid.

If you want to build a reader you need to read to your child and your child needs to see you reading. 

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