yes, read the book again
As you could imagine, we love reading and exploring books! We are instilling this appreciation in our own littles by encouraging reading through read-alouds. Like many other families, we have established a bedtime reading routine. We’ve been reading as part of our wind-down practice since Amzai (Am-z-eye) was about 9 months. Asherah (Ah-sh-rah), our ten-month-old, has since joined in on the practice as well. Amzai continues to take the lead of selecting his two titles of choice.
Though Amzai has an abundant category of options, he keeps a very limited selection on rotation until dad and I either introduce a new title, or buy a new book; typically the latter. As one of the two lead readers in the household, it can become quite the task to reread the same titles for 2-3 weeks straight. The enthusiasm and inflection in my tone after the 10th read of Snowy Day start to wane. After a couple of rounds of George Washington Carver Loves Plants, you can almost read the book with your eyes closed. It is in those moments that Amzai pushes us to continue and even begins to fill in where we taper off.
It was when Amzai was about two years old (25 months and 4 days to be exact) that I was first astonished by his reading skills. Dad had been reading a book about a farm and farm animals with Amzai. Seemingly all of a sudden, dad and Amzai switched roles. Dad took over the page-turning responsibilities and Amzai, little Ami-Doo, was reading! I must’ve made my sweet boy read that book 4-5 times that night to anyone I could get on Facetime! I was so proud and by the smile on his face and enthusiasm in his voice, so was Ami!
Had Amzai began to memorize common word parts and started decoding words? No. If these words were presented in isolation, would Amzai be able to read them and use those same words in other contexts? Likely not. But Amzai was reading and showing reading readiness skills! When read to, kiddos are able to grasp rich language skills and yes, begin to memorize the words from the pages of books. This is a sure sign that your read aloud practice, even after the 32nd edition of Baby Says, is paying off! Two pats on the back for you!
Books with common word patterns, and rich illustrations like Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do you See? Help guide a young reader with predictable wording and descriptive pictures.
If you’re fatigued and want to switch it up a bit, offer a new practice. Explore your beloved titles by doing a picture walk. Cerca/Close is a perfect story to use for this routine. Spend time taking a closer look at the images, talk about what you see. Compare shapes, colors, and spatial features. Play a game of I, Spy. Consider challenging your little to make predictions about what they think is going to happen next, or encourage them to share what they might do if they were in a similar situation. Make personal connections to the pictures by asking your little to compare features in the pictures, to things they have or see in their lived experience. These opportunities to immerse themselves in the story, or think more critically about what is happening allows your child to activate their own prior knowledge and helps refresh their perspective on a story they know well. It also encourages them to ask similar questions when you finally move on to a new read.
Happy Reading and make sure to put a smile on when you’re urged to read their favorite story of the moment, yet again.