bookshelves
full of wonderful books? Do they see you reading which is, by the way, a great
stress reliever? What is the art on the walls, what movies do you watch, and
what music flows through your house? Are you respectful of each other? Do love
and respect dominate your household? The culture in your home is of paramount
importance to your child’s development and their attitude to learning.
Understanding the written word will help them escape the popular culture (of
TV, movies, high tech diversions, and popular music) so that they become more
thoughtful and insightful as they discover their own true God given talents. Then
their authentic, free, and successful lives will emerge. Learning to read early
can change their entire lives. I truly believe this, and I sincerely want the
children in your home to learn to read. Let them learn to read now so that they
can read to learn later.
THEIR VERY EARLY LEARNING YEARS
Children are naturally curious and are
receptive, and will easily take to early reading, especially and very
importantly if there is an element of fun in the process. They will love the
attention that they will receive from you, and you will love this new
connection with your child that this learning opportunity creates. This
visionary program will become the new communication between you two. There is
a wonderful window between the ages of 3 and 5 yrs. old when you can have their
full attention before they are more physically active and want to run outside
to play. This delightful little book addresses this time.
FROM BIRTH TO 3
Firstly, all parents and caregivers must
realize that a child needs to hear many words lovingly directed at him or her
from birth on, even though at first he will not understand them. Speaking to a
baby and happily acknowledging his existence in a very warm, gentle, and loving
way needs to be established from the very beginning. This is the foundation for
future reading. How? They need to hear happy and loving positive conversation
directed to them so that they hear many words that will become familiar to
them. Sadly, many small children are ignored, tolerated or simply left alone.
We cannot do that. Show your child the natural world as you would imagine
indigenous people would show the living world to their offspring. Before 1 year
old, show her, touch it, name it, let her point to it as you name and admire
the trees, bushes, bugs, flowers, the sky, airplanes, birds, ants, dogs etc.
Be excited and involved in the moment. No, you don’t have to do this every
moment. But show her your own enthusiasm as you rediscover life through her
eyes. Having her point seems to focus her attention.” Do you see that bird?
What is he doing? Is he flying high in the blue sky, or sitting in the tree?
Where is his nest? It is probably in the tree over there. I wonder where his
children are. If you can manage to have a bird feeder with bird seed from the
supermarket within easy view, this is a fabulous thing for a very young child
to watch. This idea brings great excitement. What else can you both focus on as
you encourage emotional and verbal interaction? “Look at the beautiful
flowers.” Go from house to house as you walk along or push them in a stroller,
and point these out. Don't bring your babe into an outdoor environment without
commenting on what is going on in it. Verbalize what you see. “Where's the dog?
Do you hear it barking? What color is he? Is he white, brown, or black? Look at
the children over there. What are they doing? Let us go to the park. Do you want
to go on the swings, the monkey bars or the slide? Look at the airplane high up
in the sky. I wonder where they are going” Do you see that speech directed to
them is the basis of reading? A child slowly becomes comfortable with language
and familiar with many words through much loving repetition, and puts together
these outdoor experiences (birds, flowers, dogs, airplanes
Aravind Adiga
Joanne Rocklin
Rebecca Crowley
Amit Chaudhuri
Paul Reiser
Ann Mayburn
Yasunari Kawabata
Rebecca Lorino Pond
Amy Lynn Green
Aimée and David Thurlo