According to the December 2008 article “The Basics – Helping Your Child Succeed in School” by the U.S. Department of Education, “helping your child become a reader is the single most important thing that you can do to help the child to succeed in school - and in life.” Reading builds literacy and language, and helps get pre-schoolers ready to start school.
Educators, librarians, pediatricians and other parenting resources suggest reading with a child 20 minutes a day. Choose chapter books and develop a pre-school child’s imagination and love of reading.
Advanced Books & Pre-Schoolers
Children traditionally start reading chapter books when they can read them on their own, which for most is not until grade school. But a pre-school age child can enjoy them too and there are several benefits to starting chapter books early including:
- Ability to listen at higher levels
- Development of comprehension skills
- Building of vocabulary and understanding of sentence structure
- Teaching of life lessons through more complex plots
- Strengthening attention span
- Growing visualization skills
- Parental enjoyment
Chapter Book Benefits
A child’s listening levels and reading levels are different until about the eighth grade. Until then listening skills are a minimum of two full years ahead of reading level, meaning that a child can listen, understand and appreciate books that are too difficult for him to read on his own.
Comprehension, and the ability to make connections and inferences are higher reading skills associated with good readers. To build comprehension, a child does not need to know how to read, only how to listen. Reading chapter books to young children can build these higher reading skills years before they are able to read written words.
A large vocabulary is correlated with higher intelligence and reading is one of the best ways to build verbal skills. Reading chapter books to pre-schoolers introduces new words and concepts helping them to develop a richer vocabulary.
With more complicated plots, chapter books can deal with life issues such as bullying, conflict resolution, integrity and respect. They also teach young children empathy as they identify with concepts and characters in the book.
According to the article “A Short Guide on Reading Aloud Chapter Books to Preschoolers” by the group DaddyRead, “chapter books, started at a young age, can help build long attention spans.” Reading an entire chapter aloud without pause, forces a child to concentrate in order to follow the story.
Reading chapter books aloud also grows a child’s imagination. Listening to a story without pictures, children must visualize what is happening. These mental images capture a child’s imagination as they picture the characters and events of the plot.
In addition to the many benefits for young children, chapter books are enjoyable for adults. An on-going story told over more than one sitting draws in both age groups, and the more parents enjoy reading, the more they will read to their kids.
Reading Aloud to Pre-Schoolers
Listen to some books on tape for examples of how to read aloud and follow these tips for making chapter books exciting.
- Think and read like a professional storyteller
- Read slowly, with emotion and inflection
- Use different voices for different characters
- Make reading interactive by discussing a lesson or idea, or asking the child to anticipate a character's action or guess at the meaning of a difficult word from context
Introducing Chapter Books
Do not eliminate picture books in favor of chapter books. Chapter books should complement picture books. Between three-and-a-half and four years old, entry-level chapter books can be introduced. Read one chapter at a time and increase the number of chapters read per sitting as a child’s interest and attention span increases. If the child does not show interest at first, put the chapter book aside and try again one month later. Continue trying until he or she is engaged.
Titles for Ages 3, 4 & 5
There are many good beginner level chapter books to introduce to pre-schoolers, including several series that follow the characters through different adventures.
- Magic Tree House (series)
- The Magic School Bus Science Chapter Books (series)
- Junie B. Jones (series)
- Frog and Toad (series)
- Stuart Little (HarperCollins Publishers, 1974)
- James and the Giant Peach (Alfred Knopf, 1961)
Visit the library for more ideas and introduce a child to the magic of books. It will not only develop the child’s love of reading, but also help them build important literacy skills.
Related Articles:
Time Travel Books For Kids
American History Chapter Books for Kids
References:
US Department of Education. The Basics – Helping Your Child Succeed in School, December 24, 2008 (accessed April 17, 2010).
Daddyread.com. "A Short Guide on Reading Aloud Chapter Books to Preschoolers" (accessed April 17, 2010).
Trelease-on-reading.com. "The Read-Aloud Handbook" (accessed April 17, 2010).
Tchliteracy.com. "Listening Levels" (accessed April 17, 2010).
Kidshealth.org. "Story Time for Preschoolers" (accessed April 17, 2010).
Rif.org. "Tips for Reading Aloud With Preschoolers" (accessed April 18, 2010).
Resources:
Short Read-Aloud Chapter Books
Jane Larkin - Jane was a commercial mortgage broker for hotels and held Six Sigma, advertising, marketing and public relations jobs in various ...
