What Children Like in Books?

0 - 12 Months
Board books or fold-out books that can be propped up
Books with pictures of babies
Books with simple, large pictures
Books with simple pictures of people or familiar objects
Plastic or vinyl books for bath time
Washable cloth books that can be held and placed in the mouth
Books with black-and-white pictures or patterns

12 - 24 Months
Small, sturdy board books that small hands can hold
Books about bedtime
Books with photos of children doing familiar things like sleeping or playing
Books about saying hello and good-bye
Books with a few words on each page
Books with simple rhymes or predictable text
Books about animals
Books with simple, geometric shapes
Nursery rhymes

2 - 3 years
Books that tell simple stories and have pictures with more details
Simple rhyming books they can memorize
Books about bedtime
Books about counting, shapes or sizes
Interactive books – pop-up pages, pull-the-tab and touch-and-feel books
Silly or funny books
Books with repetition in story or a repeated phase
Stories with predictable text
Songs in a book format
Books with sounds they can imitate like animal or car sounds or musical instruments
Alphabet books with simple, clear pictures of each letter

4 - 5 years
Books with a plot – a beginning, middle and end
Simple science books about how things work
Silly or funny books
Books about things in which they have a special interest
Books about friends, families and other children
Books about going to school
Books with simple text they can memorize or read
Simple non-fiction books
Books that address a common fear or concern like being afraid of the dark
Wordless picture books
Books with a cumulative or sequential plot like the Three Billy Goats Gruff by Glen Rounds or If You Give a Cat a Cupcake by Laura Numeroff

why reading is very important for young children?

“The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children. This is especially so during the preschool years.” – From Becoming a Nation of Readers

Six pre-reading skills your child can start learning from birth!

1.Vocabulary – Learn new words

Learning words begins at birth and grows throughout a child’s life. Most children start school knowing between 3,000 and 5,000 words.

• Talk with your child about what is going on around you. Talk about how things work, feelings and ideas.

• When your child talks with you, add more detail to what she says.
• Speak in the language that is most comfortable for you.
• Read together every day. When you talk about the story and pictures, your child hears and learns more words.
• Learn together by reading some true books on subjects that your child likes.
• Research shows that children who have larger vocabularies are better readers. Knowing many words helps children recognize written words and understand what they read.

2. Print Motivation – Love of books

• Make book-sharing time a special time for closeness between you and your child.
• Let your child see you reading.
• Visit your public library often.
• Children who enjoy books will want to learn how to read.

3. Print Awareness – Use books

• Read aloud everyday print — labels, signs, lists, menus. Print is everywhere!

• Point to some of the words as you say them, especially words that are repeated.
• Let your child turn the pages.
• Let your child hold the book and read or tell the story.
• Hold the book upside down. See if your child turns the book around.
• Being familiar with printed language helps children feel comfortable with books and understand that print is useful.

4. Narrative Skills – Tell a story

• Listen to your child carefully when he talks.
• Ask your child to tell you about something that happened. Let him tell you about a picture he drew.
• Share books together.
• Stories help children understand that things happen in order — first, next, last.
• Read a book together that your child already knows. Switch what you do. You be the listener and let your child tell you the story.
• Ask “what” questions. Point to a picture and say, “What’s that?” or “What is happening here?”
• Add to what your child says. If your child says, “big truck” then you say, “Yes, a big red fire truck.”
• Ask open-ended questions like, “What do you think is happening in this picture?”
• Help your child relate what is happening in the story to her own experience, for example, “What happened when we went on a picnic?”
• Being able to tell or retell a story helps children understand what they read.

5. Phonological Awareness – Hear and make sounds

Most children who have an understanding of phonological awareness have an easier time learning to read. Help your pre-reader become aware of the smaller sounds that make up words.

• Ask whether two words rhyme: “Do ‘cat’ and ‘dog’ rhyme?” “Do ‘cat’ and ‘hat’ rhyme?”
• Say words with word chunks left out: “What word would we have if you took the ‘hot’ away from ‘hotdog’?”
• Put two word chunks together to make a word: “What word would we have if we put ‘cow’ and ‘boy’ together?”
• Say words with sounds left out: “What word would we have if we took the ‘buh’ sound away from ‘bat’?”
• Say rhymes and make up your own silly, nonsense rhymes together.
• Sing songs. Songs have different notes for each syllable in a word.
• Read some poetry together. Make up short poems together. Say the words that rhyme.
• Say rhymes and sing songs in the language most comfortable for you.
• Most children who have difficulty reading have trouble with phonological awareness.

6. Letter Knowledge – See and know letters

• Write your child’s name.
• Make letters from clay or use magnetic letters.
• Point out and name letters when reading alphabet books, signs or labels.
• Show your child that the same letter can look different.
• Write words that interest your child (like “dinosaur” or “truck”) using crayons, magnetic letters or pencil and paper.
• Knowing the names and sounds of letters helps children figure out how to say written words.

Description of Resource Collection for Parents

Yuan Chen (Anna)

Prof. Christine Schull

CHD 216

The collected resources are grouped into ten categories, and arranged alphabetically. They are prepared for the parents of preschoolers with age from 3 to 4. They cover issues of choosing appropriate childcare and toys, county guidelines, milestones from 3yrs to 5-yrs, safety, health, and communication. As a teacher, one part of our job is to educate parents to strengthen their ability to effectively understand their children. The more knowledge about child education they have, the happier and healthier reciprocal relationship they will enjoy with their children. Two resources about infants are also included because some preschoolers may have younger siblings. They can be helpful to those who may need this kind of information.

I feel these resources are also helpful to new immigrants, since they may have limited knowledge about the educational system in America. It is often seen that new immigrant parents are not brave to speak freely with teachers. These resources, from Fairfax County Department of Family Services, can help them to know more about the system, rules, policies and regulations in this country, particularly in this community.

The guidelines and milestones give parents a picture about the process of children’s development. That information can help parents to have appropriate expectations towards their children. Sometimes, it can avoid some unnecessary conflicts due to too high’s or too low’s expectations or goals. Two articles about discipline are included, which can help those parents who do not have good strategies of dealing with children’s behavior problems. They may know what problem the child has, but may not know the appropriate way to deal with it. Professional knowledge can enhance their parenting skills.

There are five resources related to reading and early literacy. Reading skills will determine the level of later academic success even a person’s whole life.

In my teaching, I will invite parents to provide some articles, flyers, even to share their own experiences about educating, which can be valuable items added to the parents’ corner. That can also give us a chance to know more about parents.

Contents

A. Child Care issues and Guidelines

1. Early Learning Guidelines of Fairfax County

2. Guidelines for Selecting a Babysitter

3. Tips for Shopping with Your Child

4. Child Supervision Guidelines--Fairfax County

5. If You See a Child Being Mistreated in a Public Place

6. Quality Child Care

7. Amerigroup Community Care

B. Communication

8. Words that Help Kids

9. Building Parent-Teacher Partnerships

10. How to Talk to Your Kids about the Earthquake in Haiti?

11. The Importance of Attachment

12. Think before You Spank

C. Development & Milestones

13. Developmental Milestones Ages Three, Four & Five

14. Developmental Milestones: Age 3

15. How Early Experiences Affect Brain Development

16. The Talking Three Year Old

17. Is your baby smart?

D. Encouragement and Discipline

18. Tony DiTerlizzi and Encouraging Young Artists

19. Discipline for Your Child

20. TIME-OUT Discipline Technique

E. Family activity

21. Family History Projects

F. Healthy issues

22. About Flu Season

23. Bee Wise, Immunize!

24. Tip for a Healthy Lifestyle

25. Family Fun and Fitness

26. About Diabetes

G. Military issues

27. Supporting young children affected by a military parent’s death

28. Supporting young children affected by a military parent’s injury

H. Reading & Early Literacy

29. How does Reading Develop Taste Buds?

30. Put Reading First

31. Literacy Is a Survival Skill

32. Help Little Ones Learn to Love Reading

33. Books Families Can Share with Their Children

I. Safety issues

34. Never Shake a Baby

35. Keeping Kids Safe in or around vehicles

36. Be Careful with Windows and Young Children

J. Toy

37. Toy Safety Shopping Tips

38. Think Toy Safety

39. Good Toys for Young Children

Supporting young children affected by a military parent’s death

The link of PDF file (Supporting young children affected by a military parent’s death)

Supporting young children affected by a military parent’s injury

The link of PDF file (Supporting young children affected by a military parent’s injury)

WORDS THAT HELP KIDS

The link of PDF file (WORDS THAT HELP KIDS)