Presenter’s Script

Family Reading Parent Workshop

·  Slide 1 – Welcome participants to the workshop, and let them know that you will be talking about how families can read to their preschoolers at home.

·  Slide 2 – Very young children are naturally curious to learn about the world around them.

·  Slide 3 – As a child gets older, he/she becomes less and less likely to enjoy reading or read for pleasure; in fact, many adults never read a book again after finishing formal education.

·  Slide 4 – The best thing that families can do to encourage their preschoolers to become lifelong readers is read aloud at home, as often as possible.

·  Slide 5 – Even teenagers enjoy having family read-alouds with young adult novels and chapter books.

·  Slide 6 – Families who read aloud send their children the message that reading is enjoyable and valuable, which increases the likelihood that their children will enjoy it, too.

·  Slide 7 – Jim Trelease is author of The Read-Aloud Handbook, a great resource for family reading.

·  Slide 8 – Family reading is also a great opportunity to spend quality time together as a family.

·  Slide 9 – Reading aloud helps children move to higher listening levels – from non-listening (tuning in and out, mostly absorbed in their own thoughts), to passive listening (hearing what is said, but not really understanding what he/she hears), to active listening (hearing what is said and understanding the meaning; being actively involved in the story reading). The listening levels correlate with reading levels – moving from occasionally noticing letters and words, to being able to read words without understanding the meaning of what he/she just read, to eventually having good reading comprehension – reading and understanding the meaning.

·  Slide 10 – Talking comes before reading aloud – it is important for infants and toddlers to hear you say lots of words before they can use words themselves. As the child gets older, read-aloud books become more complex, starting with no words or a few words that go with the pictures, and moving up to chapter books for adolescents.

·  Slide 11 – Your child will have favorite books, based on his/her interests and personality, that you will read over and over again.

·  Slide 12 – Make reading aloud every day a priority, even if you just have a few minutes – you can break a book up over a few days.

·  Slide 13 – Make sure to read the book before you read it to your child – this will help you weed out books that aren’t good choices, or prepare to explain new vocabulary words.

·  Slide 14 – Your child’s attention span will increase over time, so even if he/she can only sit through a short book now, this will change.

·  Slide 15 – Make sure your child has access to the book (turning pages, etc.). If you don’t let your child touch the book, it makes reading seem off-limits – something only for adults.

·  Slide 16 – if you don’t like the book, it shows in your tone of voice when you are reading it. Feel free to stop reading a book and pick another one if you get partway through and realize you don’t want your child to hear the message of the book. Many award-winning books are winners for the illustrations – they are beautiful, but not always good for reading aloud.

·  Slide 17 – Always talk about the physical properties of the book before moving on to the contents. Try holding the book upside down or backwards and see if your child notices your mistake.

·  Slide 18 – Always discuss the book – don’t just read the words and be finished.

·  Slide 19 – Feel free to make up your own discussion questions, and answer any questions your child asks, too.

·  Slide 20 – For example, if your child is going to have a new baby brother or sister, choose a book that deals with this issue.

·  Slide 21 – It is important for preschoolers to have access to books on their own, instead of them being off-limits. In order for this to work, you have to teach them how to take care of the books.

·  Slide 22 – We want young children to see books as being accessible to them.

·  Slide 23 – Above all else, family reading should be a fun bonding activity for you and your child – it is not a time to formally “teach” reading skills, but simply reading aloud sets your preschooler up for reading success later.

·  Slide 24 – Resources for families.