By Anna Wallis
Preschoolers love books and stories when they appeal to them, capture their interests and imaginations. Just observe the way they happily entertain themselves paging through a pile of books in a comfy reading corner. This quiet reflective time is just as important as all the other busy pursuits in a balanced preschool day. It is a wonderful way for children to unwind and revisit their favourite stories they enjoyed listening to during story time.
Preschoolers Love Story Time
Even the busiest, most active and adventurous of preschoolers can never resist a good story, especially when they have a say in which one to read. They are quite happy to take a break from their pursuits and sit down in the anticipation of having fun.
Between the ages of 3 – 5, preschoolers’ attention span, memory and concentration are developing rapidly. This is the best time to nurture a love of reading in children as well as the skills that promote early literacy. At preschool level it is important to nurture the abilities that will make children more capable of reading, writing and spelling. Actual formal teaching of reading takes place when they enter primary school.
Promoting Love of Reading and Learning
As parents, caregivers and teachers of preschoolers we need inspire children and encourage discussion, movement, creative activities, puzzles, Lego building and reading together as often as possible. These activities help preschoolers develop:
- Large and fine motor skills,
- Visual and auditory discrimination
These skills are also essential to children’s later reading and writing success.
Giving Children the ‘ Tools ‘ of Literacy
Read-aloud time and giving children opportunities to play with reading and writing materials give future readers and writers the ‘tools’ of literacy to experiment with, enjoy and also develop:
- Listening and comprehension skills
- Deeper awareness of how language works
- Awareness that print carries meaning
- Appreciation that letters have different sounds that go with them.
All these important skills give children a solid foundation for early literacy skills to flourish.
Enjoyment is the Best Predictor of Success
Enjoyment is the most valuable feature that predicts success in learning to read. It ignites children’s natural motivation, interest and enthusiasm to learn.
The best way to promote literacy in young children is to create a bank of happy, loving memories associated with books and learning.
Other Articles to Explore:
Preschoolers’ Speech and Language Development
Promoting Early Literacy Skills
Inspiring Links to Enjoy:
Dr Bruce Perry speaks about:
