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minutes by the time he's about 5
years old.
Llterature f or Read lng
In teaching to listen, read to your
child! Take your child to the library
even by age 2. A !ove of books will
begin to develop by so doing.
Choose books that have proper
information. Avoid too many talk–
ing animals and fairy tales. Keep to
subjects relevant to your children's
experiences and interest.
Through books yo ur child's
vocabulary will increase and he will
learn the flow and rhythm of words.
Synonyms and antonyms will enter
his ears. Nouns and adjectives will
parade before his mind.
Poetry is important for the
rhythmic pattern children enjoy,
and for speech development (by
repeating words that may initially
be difficult to pronounce). Have
your child learn severa! from mem–
ory. Memory work aids in the prop–
er development of mental organiza–
tion . Be sure the selections cover a
wide spectrum of facts and experi–
ences. Introduce your child to the
rhythm of language with all its
richness and beauty.
Show your child how you read.
As you read, use expression- make
the story or poem exciting, inter–
esting. Use inflection and vocal
color- but be balanced! Don't be
over dramatic.
Don't continue reading some–
thing in which your child has no
apparent interest at the time. He
has
so many
of his own interests
going, build on these. His knowl–
edge in these subjects will rapidly
increase and other areas will open
from this.
0 -pen the world to your chi ld–
teach, instruct, nourish, add to the
ideas and interests he or she has.
Try to look at the world through
a child's eyes. View the folded rose–
bud, the billowing clouds, the tiny
twigs of trees. Appreciate and
enjoy God's creation with your
child, and you will be teaching him
"while yo u're walking by the
way."
Don' t Rush Readlng
Don't be a parent who is over anx–
ious to get his child reading! Par–
ents
often
like to put great empha–
sis on this while leaving other
more
February 1985
valuable preschool work undone.
Children often can "read" befare
they go to school, but have poor
comprehension and eyesight and
can do little else. They have learned
to identify words, but without the
depth of meaning that takes added
maturity and life experience to
comprehend.
To sorne parents, other areas are
not so obvious or readily tangible as
reading, and therefore are over–
looked. These are the important
attitude areas covered earlier. This
is the foundation upon which all
else will rest.
Reading at a
very
early age can
be accomplished, but it is not nec–
essary.
If
your child does show
interest in reading before his first
year at school, expose him to famil–
iar words all around us- "sTOP,"
"TELEPHONE." In a natural way,
have your child point out signs as
you walk and ride. He or she will
have such pleasure in recognition!
Select books to read that contain
these words. It is much easier for a
child to understand ideas that are
familiar than a book
in
which there
is little interest.
Have your child tell you a brief
story. Using
/arge dark /ett ers,
print what he or she has said. You
can make up a book this way, using
/arge
sheets of paper. Praise your
child for each word recognized.
If
you choose to buy your child
books, make book buying a real
event. Buy one ata time. With this
incentive, a child will not only
experience joy in reading, but may
want to try out writing.
Preschool Wrltlng Development
Again, remember it takes tremen–
dous coordination to write. This
can be developed by picking ber–
ries, folding napkins, sort ing out
Daddy's nails and bolts, working
with clay or kneading pastry with
Mother.
Encourage your child to do
much
cutting and pasting. Cut out
pictures and paste them by topic in
a scrapbook.
Use cardboard upon which to
paste a picture a nd cut into
shapes-an endless supply of jig–
saws!
These activities develop strength
in hands and fingers . Good pen–
manship begins here.
lf
your child strongly favors use
of his left hand, make no issue of
it.
Be sure to teach your child not to
write in books that should not be
written in.
Mathematics
Preschool years offer a made-to–
order situation for teaching ele–
mentary mathematics. Have your
chi ld measure how many times a
certain toy will fit on a chair, how
many steps it is to certain objects.
Have your child set the table and
count out the spoons, forks, knives
and plates needed.
Make a clock using numbers
found in magazines. Have your
chi ld gather acorns, stones, peb–
bles, sand, shells, and weigh them
against each other on a scale.
On shopping trips, have your
child find round and oval fruits and
vegetables, rectangular packages.
Let him or her have experience
with proper handling of money,
especially pennies, nickels, dimes.
Muslc
Acquaint your child with music.
From earliest days let him hear a
rich variety of music in the borne.
Play recordings, both classicaJ
and children's, along .with a rich
selection of other types, including
ethnic compositions from around
the world. Include music that is
majestically inspiring, peaceful,
pleasurable, joyous-and even sad.
Have background music at special
meals.
Point out the instruments of the
orchestra.
Let your child participate in
making music and keeping time to
it. Let him or her sing, dance, skip,
jump, march and learn left and
right by so doing. Through rhyth–
mic activities a child gains coordi–
nation, confidence, social skills and
knowledge. Music helps in disci–
pline and development of creative
skills.
Be careful not to ridicule or in
any way put down the musical
attempts of your child. Encourage,
and help instead. Make music fun.
Enjoy it as God intends.
The lmportant Flrst Day at School
As your child gets closer to school
age, prepare for that important first
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