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Raising Readers: Tips for reading with a toddler
Until Alfie was about 20 months old I’d have described him as a bookworm. His first choice of toy was always a book and he would happily have sat for three quarters of an hour while we read story after story. Then something changed. One day he had less time for reading, in fact he had no time for anything that wasn’t tearing around the garden! It seemed he tossed away every book I offered to him. I was horrified! What had happened to our cosy mornings reading our favourite books? Did this mean that he’d never be a bookworm again? Of course not! It just meant that reading time…
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Raising Readers; When Phonics Isn’t Working and the Case for Storytelling
I’m going to say this and duck…phonics doesn’t work for all readers. Phonics is a wonderful resource and ideal for teaching initial sounds and basic decoding but many children struggle to convert and construct the complex system of phonemes, trigraphs and split digraphs into one fluid sound to produce a word. Even worse they are struggling to string the words they are decoding into meaningful stories. (Don’t just take my word for it though, more info here; The Limits of Phonics) Moving on from Phonics As a former children’s librarian and a teacher I’m familiar with the sight of worried parents wringing their hands when faced with their children’s homework, helpless…
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Raising Readers: 6 Things Parents Do That Make Children Hate Reading
Is it possible that we as parents are damaging our children's desire and ability to read? In this post we examine the role of intrinsic motivation and how to use it at home to make your child a reader.
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Raising Readers; Why Won’t My Child Read
In August we will be answering the question "Why won't my child read?" and focusing on how to encourage your child to love reading. This week we will examine the 5 most common reasons why children don't read and what you can do to motivate them to read for pleasure.
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When It Comes To Books Less Is More
While reading the same book again and again might be boring for parents, it has powerful benefits for a child. Here are 4 reasons to keep picking up your child's favourite story.
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A Montessori Library
What to look for when choosing children’s books that are ‘Montessori-friendly’ so that you can get the most out of your public library.
