LEARNERS
LITTLE Pre c
ear Pre-reading
ear BY ZIBBY ANDREWS
y the time their children are in
preschool, parents can clearly see
how learning stems from rela-
tionships and engagement. When
young children are lovingly
encouraged and supported, they
engage joyfully with new learn-
ing and absorb new information quickly
and easily. Thankfully, research sup-
ports the role of relationships in learning.

Parental involvement has a scientific,
research-based stamp of approval.

Parents have a distinct advantage
over teachers. Teachers have to estab-
lish a multitude of new relationships each
year before they can allow optimal learn-
ing to happen. Parents can lead their
child into the world of reading directly
from intimate and peaceful rocking-chair
moments. They can follow their child’s
lead as they move them into the world of
books and reading.

But paving the way for pre-reading and
early reading means understanding that
reading is not about learning the names
40 of the letters of the alphabet. Reading
is about meaning and understanding. It
assumes active engagement with text and
requires an ability to understand context
as kids attack each sound and word.

Reading for meaning comes from lan-
guage and comprehension — skills that
can and should be purposefully supported.

Washington FAMILY NOVEMBER 2019
PARENTS HAVE A DISTINCT
ADVANTAGE OVER TEACHERS.

Teachers have to establish a
multitude of new relationships
each year before they can allow
optimal learning to happen.

Parents can lead their child
into the world of reading directly
from intimate and peaceful
rocking-chair moments.

To develop into strong readers,
children need:
€ a robust store of background
information; € a rich spoken language base;
€ a broad and deep vocabulary;
€ verbal reasoning abilities and
conceptual or abstract knowledge.

These are the things preschool teach-
ers emphasize, the things that do much
more than a worksheet to support pre-
and emerging reading skills. But they’re
not always on the parental radar as critical
to a developing or future reader.

A rich variety
Background knowledge is vital to learn-
ing to read. It comes from trips taken
to the zoo and the beach and the nature
center. It comes from socializing with
neighbors and friends who have differ-
ent experiences. It also comes from
choosing books set in novel places,
full of different animals, homes,
trees, flowers and characters. And



experiencing something firsthand makes
it personal and even more valuable. So,
when a family’s weekly trip to the farm-
ers’ market intersects with the farm
theme in the preschool classroom, a child
will be ready to learn at a deeper level.

Because they can visualize the market
from personal experience, they will have
already internalized many of the vocab-
ulary words and concepts — words and
ideas they will have when they eventually
pick up a book to read about farming or
markets or nutrition.

A strong store of background informa-
tion also comes from a variety of classes:
the music and gym classes parents attend
with their child and the science and art
classes they attend at school. These expe-
riences expose children to the things they
will eventually be reading about inde-
pendently. Later, when they’re tackling
a book about a ballerina, the actual read-
ing and understanding of the book will be
easier, enriched by the dance class they
attended as a preschooler — and by the wild
dancing they did in their own living room.

Words and more words
By speaking purposefully to their child,
by connecting their child’s previous expe-
riences to new and novel experiences
and by reading a variety of books, par-
ents will help children see new words in
familiar contexts and familiar words in
new contexts.

If parents purposefully incorporate new
vocabulary words into different aspects
of the day, children will start to use them.

Children make connections between and
among their personal experiences. And
they can then make the leap from their
world to the world of a book. They can cre-
ate the personal meaning for these new
words and concepts that is basic to true
understanding. Read to children every day, two or three
or even four times, because books include
higher concentrations of rare words than
ordinary language. Yes, even children’s
books. Children’s books also have picture
clues that encourage the critical thinking
used to determine the meaning of words
and actions.

As parents help their children develop
their own expressive vocabulary, the
words they speak, they can also point out
the literary devices that encourage them
to play with sounds. Find books with
rhythm, repetition and sound effects.

Attention to varied and tricky sounds will
lead to smooth readers who can quickly
make transitions from cat to fat to pat and
eventually to patch and pattern.

Curious and creative
Young children are naturally curious. Their
thoughts, internal and external, are buzz-
ing with questions. They are constantly
making connections and trying desperately
to make sense of the world. They begin
with concrete understanding and learn best
from physical connections (which is why
things always go in their mouths). A par-
ent’s job is to support them as they move
from this dependence on seeing, touching
and feeling to an ability to reason, visualize,
justify and think more critically.

Good questions can be the key to these
emerging skills. Help children play with
ideas and challenge them to think outside
the box. They often do it naturally, using
a kind of magical thinking that takes
them from a simple concept to a wild and
wonderful place. They can see it as they
build a castle as a home for a toy penguin
or retell an event that bears little resem-
blance to reality. When parents can, they
should go along with these fantasies and
use their own imagination to support
creative thinking. ■
Zibby Andrews is a mother and
grandmother with 40-plus years in
early childhood education.

Pre-Reading Practice
WHEN TALKING TO CHILDREN, USE OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS:
ΠWhat are the people in this picture saying?
ΠHow many ways can we use water?
Œ What would happen if …? (Be wacky! What would happen if
our dog could fly?)
ΠWhy do you think the leaves are turning brown? (Maybe it
is fairies! Accept that magical thinking – real science will
come later.)
HELP CHILDREN USE THEIR SENSES. TELL
THEM TO CLOSE THEIR EYES AND GUESS:
ΠWhat do you hear?
ΠWhat did I put in your hand?
Œ What’s different about this new jam?
ASK ABOUT CHANGES AND DIFFERENT WAYS TO LOOK AT THINGS:
ΠWhat would be more fun if it was faster?
ΠWhat would you like better if it was smaller?
ΠOur neighbor has a new cat. How do you picture him in your
head? Where is he sitting? Is he striped? What color? ■
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