Introduction

Hello! My name is Arieyona (Arie) Coverdell, and I have been working in education for 5 years now. Three of those five years have been spent teaching 4th graders, and my other two years were spent as an IA in a SPED classroom. I am currently a student finishing my BA in Elementary Education so I can finally obtain my teaching license. I will be writing weekly articles who’s purpose is to inform my readers of the importance of quality children’s literature for a student’s reading and language development.

At the moment, my favorite children’s book is The Wild Robot by Peter Brown. The recommended grade-level for this book is 3-5. I especially like this book because it teaches children the importance of adapting to any situation. The book also focuses on empathy, and the importance of the help friends/family can offer in a tough time. Overall, the book teaches many real-life social-emotional skills.

According to an article titled “Reading With Your Child” by Bernice Cullinan and Brod Bagert, reading is important for young learners because it, “Stimulates their imagination and expands their understanding of the real world.” I agree with this statement, and I often use texts to show students creative writing. My students also enjoy drawing scenes from the books they have read after they finish reading a new story.

The same article highlights some benefits of exposure to children’s literature like, developing language skills, developing listening skills, and preparing children to comprehend written-word. Reading develops language and listening skills, specially if a fluent reader is reading to the child, because they can hear how the language actually sounds and flows. Sentence structure, grammar, and comprehension are all built by just listening to someone reading.

Two strategies I would recommend for a parent to build a love for reading in their child at home are to read to the child frequently, and allow them to pick out books that align with their interests when they would like to read. Having a parent read to a child frequently allows the child to associate their quality time with their parent(s) and reading. Also, allowing the child to read books that align with their interests makes them more likely to enjoy what they read. This is a great segway into the child eventually branching out and picking up different books on their own.

Reference

Bernice Cullinan, & Brod Bagert. (2013, November 17). Reading with your child. Reading Rockets. Retrieved September 19, 2022, from https://www.readingrockets.org/article/reading-your-child