Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in Fort Worth, TX

I invited Linda Powley, the Regional Advisor of the local chapter of SCBWI (you'll have to read all the way to the bottom to find out what this is!). I hope you enjoy her eye-opening way of fostering a love of reading in our children!

Once upon a time . . . .

For most of us these word conjure up comfortable memories of lazy afternoons tucked into a favored reading spot, book on our lap, perhaps a cup of hot chocolate nearby. When we learned to read--

Wait?

When did this happen? How did it all start?

Well, reading is actually a funny thing. While it is a learned process, it doesn't happen overnight by picking up a book and suddenly saying random words. It doesn't happen because a light turns on and says, "Click: certain shapes represent sound." Learning to read is more like a growing need for a child to make sense of the world. Like sitting up or crawling it happens through a series of readiness events which form the foundation of sound and symbol association. Scholars call this pre-reading. Anyone with day-to-day contact with a toddler calls it fun.

A father and son visit McDonalds. They laugh, eat a Happy Meal, and, without either of their noticing, a subtle association is formed. While the Golden Arches are not letters or word or sentence, the symbol says to the child, "I am fun. Come visit me."

It is this kind of association that helps prepare a kids for reading, and the more exposure, the more verbal interaction kids have with the world, the more they develop a readiness for reading. Nursery rhymes, rhythm games, dancing step, The Mickey Mouse Club, are all fun - but they also engage the child's interest and move toddler toward literary awareness. Singing Apples and Bananas, or B-I-N-G-O, or The Itsy bitsy Spider, can lead to giggles and smiles, but it also plants the idea that words have rhythm and meaning. Go to the library, take part in story time, show kids that books matter.

Children learn such associations long before they understand that letters represent sounds. Things like matching socks, sorting groceries, drawing stick figures help expand awareness, as does letting him/her build a personal library and organize the books. Telling each other stories, sharing thoughts and ideas, talking with your kids rather than to them goes a long way toward literacy awareness.

I was a bit disheartened recently when I visited a toy store, and it seemed most of the toys carried some educational message. "The triangle is blue," one toy said. "The letter A is green" another proclaimed.

These are certainly good ideas, but preparing the foundation is really quite easy: Simply read to your kids. Everyday. Let them hear the cadence and sound of language. Sharing bedtime stories is great, but read your favorite magazine out loud, too. Let the tones and nuances of words fill the air. Let kids see how books open, how pages turn, that there are beginnings, middles and ends to a story. Point to the words. Let them see the left/right progression of print. If the book is an old favorite, leave out a word and let the child fill it in. If the book is a new one, ask the child what will happen next. Snuggle in together, discover the nuances of the illustration, share the anticipation of what is to come.

In other words, let reading be fun!

Linda Powley is the Regional Advisor of the local chapter of SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writer's and Illustrators). She has published three books, with a fourth due out in March. You can find out more about Linda here.