 of “interactive” books, parents are often tempted to let the app read itself (that’s what it’s designed for, isn’t it?), but what we know now, especially after widely publicized controversies like the Baby Einstein debacle, is that children learn best from play, and by interacting with a caring adult:
“For optimal development, in addition to food and safety, [children] need love. They need to be held, and they need plenty of face-to-face positive interactions with caring adults. Developing children thrive when they are talked to, read to, and played with. (from Facing the Screen Dilema: Young Children, Technology and Early Education)”
The National Association for the Education of Young Children and the International Reading Association teamed up in 1998 to produce a joint position statement entitled: Learning to Read and Write: Developmentally Appropriate Practices for Young Children. The following quote sums up the position, and is also what I aim to support in every storytime program I plan and present:
“The single most important activity for building [the] understandings and skills essential for reading success appears to be reading aloud to children (Bus, Van IJzendoorn, & Pellegrini, 1995; Wells, 1985). High-quality book reading occurs when children feel emotionally secure (Bus & Van IJzendoorn, 1995; Bus et al., 1997) and are active participants in reading (Whitehurst et al., 1994).”
Parents ask me all the time what they can do to help their child read better, or for tips on speeding up their child’s brain development. Parents still come into the library asking what DVDs they can check out that will “teach” their children to play the trombone, speak Chinese or learn the periodic table. My answer is always the same: Read to your children. As much and as often as you can. Read the best books you can find. Read the books that grab their attention. Read the books that grab YOUR attention; if you’re enjoying yourself, they’re more likely to enjoy it too. Read a paper book, a digital book, a cloth book, the newspaper, and every other bit of text you see.
In this post I’ve included more articles and position statements than most parents will actually have the time to work through, but what really matters the most can be summed up in the words of one of my favorite authors of all time, Rosemary Wells:
“Read to your bunny often, and your bunny will read to you.”