HOW TO INTRODUCE YOUR KIDS TO QUALITY CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

Reading and writing: Adults often forget the strong connection between these two skills. One naturally leads to the other. And parents and guardians can do more than they might think to encourage the reading-writing link.

Even before they can write, children tell stories. When you read a good book, ask your child if he can tell you a similar story about something that happened to him. A good place to start for inspiration might be with the Mercer Mayer classic “Just Grandma and Me,” which describes a boy’s delightful day at the beach with an adorable grandmother. Maybe your child could tell you a story about his own favorite day with a grandparent or another special person. Write or type the finished version neatly and perhaps even make it into a book with pictures of the grandparent or other special person. Also encourage your children to keep personal journals.

If your child struggles to add details to his writing, choose a descriptive passage from a favorite book to show how skilled writers use details to communicate more powerfully.

Tie together reading and writing at every turn. Even the most mundane activities can become simple and fun exercises. Let your child make out the grocery list or post upcoming events to the family calendar. Buy colorful note paper pads for every telephone station in your home and help get children in the habit of writing down phone messages instead of shouting them down the hall to you--or worse, forgetting them.

Of course, all of this requires parents to understand the true joy, empowerment and convenience of reading and writing. These early efforts to bind reading and writing will make your child an effective communicator throughout life, and writing and reading will blend into well-developed critical thinking skills as your child grows older.