So, you know you want your child to enjoy reading. You know they need to learn how to do it. But perhaps you don’t know where to begin with fostering this love of books. Maybe your child is struggling a little, and you don’t know what to do next.
Enter Rocket Your Child Into Reading.
The book begins divided into age brackets – from babies (yes, it all starts right at the beginning of your child’s life!), two years on, three years on, five years on, eight years on, and teenagers.
We then move into helping children learn to read, with twelve helpful steps, helping with handwriting and spelling, and assisting children to write stories. Following this is a section on reading difficulties, with practical advice to encourage and help your child overcome these problems, and an explanation of how different people learn.
For me, one of the best parts of this book is saved for the lucky last section: Encouraging a reading culture. This is such an important part of the whole process, to show children – on a daily basis through their whole lives – that reading is fun and worthwhile. Letting your child see you read, reading together with them (even after they learn to read) and ways to help foster this culture in your family – all are included in this section.
A great guide to helping your child learn not just to read, but to love it.
Title: Rocket Your Child Into Reading
Author: Jackie French
Publisher: HarperCollins, $19.95 RRP
Publication Date: 2004
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780207199264
For ages: Parents
Type: Reference book
This book is available online
Jackie French says: “My experiences have allowed me to see how reading problems can take over a child’s life, so that even when they become adults, they secretly remain convinced that they are dumb”.
ReplyDeleteThis is so true - I have worked with adult literacy students and this is their lives.
A lot of children who lose their confidence and self-esteem would cope much better if they weren't made to feel they're failures by outside forces - an education system that pushes them into abstract learning (i.e. reading, writing and number understanding) before their brains are developmentally ready for this complex learning.
Then they have to contend with teachers and principals who do not understand early child development and/or are so concerned about NAPLAN results, children's welfare comes second. (I've been a teacher before becoming an author, so I can speak from experience and honesty).
Many fabulous teachers who believe in treating children as individuals despair for them and their future under our current education systems.
It would be good if all parents read Jackie's book, and informed themselves about appropriate developmental practices in learning. (Google those words!) Maybe then, anyone who is more inclined to push a child educationally, in the mistaken belief that learning is similar stuffing sausages, would step back and think.
The saddest thing of all is to see those children whose parents have created a lovely reading environment at home (as Jackie suggests) in the few years before they start school, then they go to school and they find that reading pleasure does not happen between the hours of 9am-3pm.
I should have said 'reading pleasure MAY not happen between the hours of 9am-3pm', because of course, there are teachers who bust their guts trying to make learning relevant to young people, and who believe that reading is a treasure to keep and use all throughout life.
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