that they don’t matter in that world,”
Strittmatter says. “For white children only
seeing characters that look like themselves,
the message may be that ‘only they matter.’”
This point underscores the importance of
encouraging children to read diverse books.

“Diverse books provide an opportunity for
children to see value in themselves and value in
others who may not look like them,” she adds.

Read Together
What can parents do to help raise strong
readers among their children?
“The first thing a parent can do is actually
model a reading household,” explains
Bogoni. Parents should “have books of
their own, show enjoyment around reading,
make reading something that kids want to
do,” she says. When reading with children,
parents should stop to ask questions. “What
does this remind you of in our life?” “Have
you experienced anything like this?” “What
do you see on this page?” These questions
engage children and build language alongside
connection and joy.

“Reading can become linked to schoolwork
and homework when our children go to school,”
Burns notes. Therefore, she emphasizes,
parents need to help their children remember
that reading is also a pleasure.

“When reading is seen as fun and continues
as a leisure activity, children have more
confidence in learning new information from
the written word,” Burns explains. To help
build a love of reading outside the classroom,
Burns encourages parents to embrace all forms
of reading — reading online, reading picture
books and reading graphic novels — to allow
children to discuss their reading, explain what
they’ve learned from a story and read what they
love to read.

Like Bogoni, Burns echoes the point about
modeling good reading habits. “Children have a
knack for repeating and emulating the behavior
they see adults do,” she says. “Let your child
choose the books they want to read. Choice
will empower them to take ownership of their
reading journey.”
Reading, adds Strittmatter, doesn’t have to
be limited to books.

She encourages parents to read the news to
their children, watch subtitled movies together
and play video games with text and logic
problems or board games with instructions. “To
raise an avid reader, read!” she declares. T
Sister Montessori preschools,
providing Northern Virginia’s
preschool children with quality
education for the past 50 years.

The SEED School of Maryland is a college-preparatory, tuition-free boarding school serving boys and girls in grades 6-12
OPEN HOUSE
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IS APRIL 1, 2022
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