Personal Text

READING PRACTICES IN THE FAMILY

"There are many little ways to enlarge your child's world.

Love of books is the best of all."

Jacqueline Kennedy

Reading practices in family is a topic that I want to study since some years, I was interested on it exactly whenI tried that reading was enjoyed and practiced in my home and the result was not the best. In that moment many questions appeared, such us Why families do not practice reading?What is the best way to seduce children and adults to enjoy shared readings? How would you involve and let parents know about the importance of reading and letting their children know about it?

To have these questions in mind made me decidethat this will be the topic of my thesis, for that, in this text you will read some aspects of this big and amazing topic that surely will be clarified during the degree. First of all, I will speak about the advantagesof reading in family and why, based on what I have read, this practice is important. Then, I will propose some texts for reading and some exercises to do with those texts. Finally, I will present some places for reading in family - as not only the house is appropriate for this - and will present some experiences of reader families.

Let´s read together

Many times, parent or heads of household do not have into account reading with children just because they do not know this activity, in fact, they never think it would can be part of their cotidianity and never asked about the advantages and the disadvantages of practicing it. However, I think this would star to change if they know this information, once this happens, they will take the decision of reading with family or not.

The firs advantage parent should know is that communication in the family become better, children will be stimulated to share words with adults that read with them, even if words are from their personal experiences and not from a book. A child who grows sharing stories with adults feels that has things In common with that person and they become confident.  About this, the author Leanne Williams (2012) says:

“Sharing books with babies and young children is one of the most important things a parent can do as it will help them to learn to read and write when they start school. It is also lots of fun and a will create a very special bond between parent and child” (p.32)

Another advantage of reading in family is that it is a grate help for children when they start school, even more if readings are shared since the very beginning of childhood, this achieves that they learn more easily as they have had an approach to the words. And beyond this, it is necessary to mention that children know that reading is not only for school, they learn to enjoy listening and reading stories forgetting that it is an obligation, and off course,in this case the promotion of parent is very important. Laurie Elish-Piper (2010) in her text Parent Involvement in Reading says: “Encourage children to read a wide variety of texts.(…) daily reading time promotes reading development in all areas”(p.50)this fragment article supports the idea previously exposed.

Treasures to share

Selection of texts for sharing with children is as important as knowing the advantages of doing it, but, How to do it? This is a question really common when an adult decides to read with children. Firs of all, it is a good idea to follow some recommendations, nevertheless, it is better not be guided only by what the experts say and not try to find the bestsellers, and secondly, it is necessary tolisten children´s recommendations, which appear for example when they ask the repetition of a story.

There are some books are recommended by writers, librarians and teachers because surely they had successful experiences with them, it is a good choice to introduce them to children as there are good references from them. Books like One Thousand and One Nights, some adventures written by Jules Verne or some magical stories written by Anthony Browne are highly recommended, but as was mentioned some lines before, all children do not do the same selections.

Once parent or adults understand the importance of choosing texts, it is a good idea to develop some exercises with them, let´s learn some of them: to read allowed with children at least fifteen minutes daily, to choose a quite and comfortable place, to speak about the text written, it is important for children when adults listen their opinions and experiences; to describe images, to speak about them and maybe to imagine stories based on them; to read in front of children, nothing is better than giving them the example, if they see an adult involved in a story the will be curious and could start reading by themselves; to read everything that appears when adults and childrenare together, such us billboards, packaging, street signs and news; ah! And remember to bring books everywhere, in the bus, in the supermarket, in trips and why not, while you wait for the dentist appointment.

Another thing very important to learn is what should not I do if I want my children be readers. The most important of the list is do not force him to read a story, it is terrible when they see it as an obligation; the following suggestion is do not scold them when they cannot read well, they will learn by practicing. Do not use books as a punishment, if it happens they will hate reading during the whole life. And the last but nor the least, do not try that they read exactly the same to you, respect their choices and make them know you are doing it.

Magic places to read

When a family starts reading, whatever place becomes magic. It does not matter the context, it does not matter if it is a poor or a rich family, even if they are not in the common place: the house. There are some projects and programs created around the world that confirm this activity is possible for all families, andwhat is needed is the desire to do it.

The Little Big Book Club is a project created in Australia for migrant families, as they have many problems that prevent them from thinking about fun.The goal of this projectis “to promote the love of and the importance of reading from a very early age. Through a variety of programs and resources LBBC supports bothparent and professionals in providing children with a crucial base for lifelong literacy, success in formal schooling and improved life chances” (Williams, 2012, p.30). 

As was said, migrant families do not have time for thinking about the words fun and play, nonetheless, projects like this one helps some families to forget about problems they have by enjoying in the refugee camps the reading and activity pack they receive free. Like those families can read away from home, many more that are in different conditions, can look for unusual places for this.  In Medellin for example there are some bookstores specialized in literature for children such us SimSalaBim located in Laureles downtown, and if the family do not have money for buying books, it is really easy because there are a very big library network and it is really easy to lend some material. And when the goal is reading in a natural place, families can go to the Botanical garden, to Deseos Park or some parks neighborhoods have.

Final considerations

The lines written are just a part of things can be said about this issue, actually, there are more questions and doubts that things to affirm. What is the most important thing to say is that this topic needs to go beyond some lines; it should to be shared in order to have more reader families every day. But, what are the things they need to know? Advantages? Disadvantages? Needs? This is the beginning of the long path to find it out.

  

REFERENCES

Elish-Piper, L. (2010).Understanding Reading Comprehension: Information and Ideas for Parents about Reading Comprehension. Illinois Reading Council Journal, 38(3), 49-52.

Williams, L. (2012). The Little Big Book Club: New Arrivals Family Reading Pack. Practically Primary, 17(3), 30-32.