Read With a Purpose

Adapted from the blog www.learning-through-play.com by Cari Ebert, SLP

I have always said that parents are a child’s first and most important toy, but I believe books are a close second.  Long before a child can walk, talk or use a spoon, we can introduce books and expand our child’s world.  One of the primary goals for parents should be to instill a love for books in our children.  As a pediatric speech-language pathologist I often hear parents say that their young child doesn't like books or doesn't like to be read to.  There are many strategies we can implement early on to facilitate a life-long love of books and reading.  Below are strategies that will help parents become intentional play partners and facilitate pre-literacy skills by learning how to Read with a Purpose.

• Be sure to select books that are appropriate for your child– think about board books vs. paper books and storybooks vs. picture books.  Many very young children do not have the attention span for a storybook yet and will do better with simple picture books.
• Teach your child to respect books.  If your child tears the pages, then 2 things need to happen.  First, no more paper books – board books only. Second, book time needs to be a shared activity so you can show your child how to interact appropriately with books. 
• Introduce touch and feel books to encourage pointing and use books with flaps to make reading time more interactive.
• Follow your child’s lead when choosing books.
• Future learning depends on your child’s ability to read, so make books a part of your child’s daily routine from a very young age.
• If your child doesn't like to be read to, choose picture books instead of story books and remember that you don’t always have to read the words on the page.  Instead just talk in an animated way about the pictures. 
• When looking at picture books, you can look at the pages in any order so this allows your child to stay “in control.”  Don’t worry about looking at every page in the book.  Strive to make book time a positive interaction time and your child will likely want more of it!
• Try having your child sit or stand in front of you when looking at books and hold the book near your face so she can watch your face as you talk.  This will help keep your child engaged and focused on you.
• Produce a variety of sound effects and use an animated voice to capture and maintain your child’s attention.
• Convey emotion in your voice when you read.  Your happy voice should sound distinctly different from your sad voice.
• Clearly articulate each word as your read.
• When reading predictable storybooks be sure to pause and allow your child the opportunity to complete the phrase.  “Brown bear brown bear what do you _______ (see)?  I see a purple cat looking at ________ (me).” 
• If your child is having difficulty producing certain speech sounds, be sure to select books that incorporate that specific sound into the story.  So if your child has difficulty saying the “sh” sound then pick out books about sharks, ships and shadows.
• Make sure books are available all the time.  Keep a book bag in the car next to the car seat, keep small books in your purse or diaper bag, and place book baskets in different rooms of the house.