Making a Reader Out of Your Kindergartener

5 & 6 year olds have a growing attention span. This means they are ready for longer, more complex stories. 5 & 6 year olds are on the verge of figuring out how to read for themselves; they ask endless questions, for example “What does that say?” Some children are just learning that letters make sounds, whereas other children have already figured out how letters and sounds blend together to make words and are ready to become independent readers.
Poetry is a very helpful way to get beginning readers excited about reading. It is fun to watch them discover the clever games authors play with words. Children need reading material that contains short, simple, rhythmic language. Dr. Seuss was an author who was very good at writing this way.
Even advanced readers tire easily at this age when they are reading; keep reading sessions brief, happy, and successful. We want your child to be a lover of literacy, not to just be able to read words on a page.

Did You Know…?
• Children who know how to handle books and are familiar with stories learn how to read more quickly than those who have little or no book experience.
• Children who learn to read early are the ones who are read to by parents, siblings, or other caregivers.
• The rhythmic sound of a mother’s heart establishes the stability and comfort of a regular beat while a child is still in the womb-which may explain some of the appeal of poetry.
• Reading aloud to your child is the single most important thing you can do to make them a reader.
• A 5 year old has a speaking vocabulary of approximately 2,000 words.
• Telling a story from the pictures is an important step in the learning-to-read process.
• When the brain makes connections between something new and something already known, it forms new lines and new connections. The more connections made, the more learning occurs.


(This information was adapted from Read to Me Raising Kids Who Love to Read by Bernice Cullinan)