Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Listen to a child read
For me, one of the simple pleasures in life is listening to a child read. Princess number 2 started school this year which has enabled me to be part of the learning to read experience all over again. Watching a child develop this skill that many of us take for granted is a priceless experience. Each new word that is added to the reading vocabulary is a mini triumph, a discovery to be savoured. It reminds me that children have a natural tendency to learn and that we must nurture this at all costs.
Both my daughters love to read and their reading age is well above their actual age. People often ask how we achieved this. We must have tutored them from a young age is sometimes the suggested reason for their reading ability. The truth is that we have always read to them, right from birth. As each of them has started school, reading to them has become reading with them. I think this is something that has been passed down from my parents. I have vivid memories of my Father reading Banjo Patterson poetry to my brother and I when we were young.
If you get the opportunity to read with a child and it is not something you are accustomed to doing I highly recommend it.
What simple pleasures do you enjoy?
“You can’t coach that”
