Students often feel as though they should understand everything they read. Think back to your own school days. As the material became more intense, did you always understand everything you read? This overwhelming feeling of complete success can be intimidating to many children, and it often begins as very young children are learning to read.
So how can you, as a parent or guardian, combat this feeling? By presenting reading material that is challenging for children, kids can begin to see and understand that it is OK not to understand every concept the first time it is read. The next time you are selecting books for your child, do your best to pick a topic of which your child is not already an expert.
This does not mean the topic is not interesting, but rather that the information is presented in a more complex manner. For example, if your child loves dinosaurs, try not to pick all cartoon fictional stories about made up dinosaurs. Instead, read a factual book with names, numbers, and historical information. When your child gets that confused look on his face, let him know it is perfectly fine not to understand all of the information. In fact, this is how we learn. Then, choose some of the information to investigate together.
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Written by BRWI Staff on June 30, 2010
One question I have noticed myself and other parents, grandparents, friends, and family asking young children is, “What was your favorite part?” My family recently took a trip to Florida and those not on our journey seem to ask my children the same thing. Everyone wants to know what their favorite part was. (I have to say, I was a bit disappointed when my four-year-old repeatedly re
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Written by Laura on March 31, 2010
Making the transition from books that simply label objects on a page to books that tell a story can sometimes be a difficult transition for both the child and the parent. Young children tend to have very short attention spans and interest is often lost quickly. Making connections to real-world experiences can help, however, to keep your child’s attention because he will be thoroughly engag
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Written by BRWI Staff on February 24, 2010
As children listen to stories, they tend to remember only the really significant characters and events. This is a great starting point, but we must help them learn how to identify other parts of a story as well.
In the beginning of the story, for example, the author usually introduces us to most of the characters along with the setting. The middle of the story generally contains the problem or c
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Written by BRWI Staff on November 23, 2009
Whenever I go to the library for storytime, I try to go on the puppet show days. The children always love to listen to the stories, but there is something magical and wonderous that takes place for them as they enter the world of make-believe without having to turn on the television.
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Written by Laura on October 9, 2009
I love to hear my husband read stories to my two little boys. He is so animated and full of life that this excitement is immediately passed on to our children who are listening attentively to his every word. He is able to grab their attention right from the beginning by taking a story that they want to hear for the millionth time and changing the facts in obvious ways. For example, if he were r
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Written by Laura on September 14, 2009
If you think back to your middle school and high school days, you may remember having a set of vocabulary words that had to be learned for each chapter or unit in a text book. You may recall a commonly used activity where you write the word, look up the definition, and use the word in a sentence. Although not the best way to learn vocabulary, it probably helped you learn the new words at least f
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Written by BRWI Staff on August 31, 2009
More than likely, a three- or four-year-old is not going to pick up a book and begin to read it aloud to you. However, they are capable of looking at pictures to find clues as to what is taking place in the story. This process is actually a strategy which can be used by readers who encounter a word for which they do not know the meaning. As a parent, you can help your preschooler develop this s
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Written by BRWI Staff on July 20, 2009
As parents, we would love to be able to predict how our children will do when they enter kindergarten, high school, college, or even the career world. However, since most of us do not have a crystal ball lying around, we rely on the fact that we do the best we can to prepare our children for what lies ahead. When our children are three- or four-years-old, our focus tends to be on getting them re
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Written by BRWI Staff on July 8, 2009
Take a moment to read the following words: “eating zookeeper cage the when lion by the its was walked”. Reading these words one at a time seems pretty pointless because there is little meaning to be found. But when the words are put in another order, the reader can understand what the author is trying to say. “The lion was eating when the zookeeper walked by
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Written by BRWI Staff on May 27, 2009
