I just picked up an amazingly cool book from the library this weekend; “Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever” by literacy expert and children’s author Mem Fox.
Here’s an excerpt from Chapter Two that struck a chord with me:
“Because words are essential in building the thought connections in the brain, the more language a child experiences – through books and through conversation with others, not passively from television – the more advantaged socially, educationally, and in every way that child will be for the rest of his or her life. Conversely, the fewer words a child experiences, learns and uses before school, the more stunted that child’s brain will be.”
She goes on to talk about television being a passive learning experience that has some value, but not the same as the back-and-forth interactivity that enforces a connection with language and ideas.
I agree completely. In both books and TV, the focus should be on getting a child to be an active participant in the story.
Blue’s Clues is the perfect example of the participatory kid’s TV experience, a show I had the good fortune to be involved in. Every time we created a new episode, we had a blast thinking up visual gags and new character designs, but at the core of each of those early meetings was the understanding that our ultimate goal was to get the kids actively thinking and responding to what they saw on screen. It wasn’t enough to simply entertain. Our job (not an easy one) was to get the viewers to want to help Steve and Joe so much that they just couldn’t help shouting at the screen. It was better suited for developing problem-solving than vocabulary skills, but it was incredibly successful in getting kids’ minds active.
Books should accomplish the same thing and even more so with vocabulary and language skills.
When I read to my 1-year old, he goes between listening quietly and jabbering and pointing. Personally, It’s much more interesting for me to have him be active because we tend to read the same books over and over. After 1,000 reads of “All by Myself” by Mercer Mayer, I’m ready for some conversation from the little dude.
As an early reader, I enjoyed getting lost in books. It was a solo activity for the most part. However, what got me started and most involved was the teachers and librarians who read to the class, then asked us what we thought. It was a like a book club without the coffee and wi-fi hotspot.
Reading for entertainment is a luxury my older kids indulge in quite often. They don’t really think about what it’s doing for them from an educational standpoint. I would be worried if they did (I mean, they’re kids for cryin’ out loud). But my wife and I know what’s happening. We wonder if they hadn’t had that early interactive relationship with books from being read to, would they still be reading now just because they like it? Would their writing skills be as advanced?
Mem Fox’s book really hit home when I think about creating illustration for children’s books. More than just making pretty pictures, it’s got to be about getting all those circuits firing in a kid’s brain. A cute picture of a bunny is nice and fluffy and all, but to be successful in supporting a story visually, it’s got to prompt a strong enough reaction to make a kid point and speak. It’s got to “Change their lives forever.”
That’s quite a challenge. I better get back to it.
Thanks for the book recommendation and the reminder. We used to read to our kids much more when they were younger. It’s still worth making the time for that now.
I didn’t know you were involved with the “Blues Clues” series, David. My son loved, loved, loved watching it & we had a handy-dandy notebook for several years.
Thank you for writing this post. Very good info…. My son, now 6 years old, is learning to read so we focus much of our reading time listening to him read & cheering him on along the way. However, just last night he said that he wanted me to read to him (he does this a few times/week lately). He didn’t want to do the reading; he wanted me to read to him. Of course, I obliged;-) I hope he wants me to read to him for many, many years to come. We both get so much out of it!
It’s no fair. You are doing what I WISH I were talented enough to do. DRAWING and making a living from it? Nice. Kidding aside, it must be very rewarding to be the pictures-that-go-perfectly-with-the-words guy.
And, from my experience (as a first grade teacher in a former life), the illustrations in books are so rich and often provoke deeper thinking in little ones. I often took one simple picture book that might take 2 minutes to read aloud and spent a half hour or more getting kids to think.
What do you think this person is doing in this picture? What is he feeling, do you think. What would you do if you were him? What do you think he’s going to do next. And so on. Story time—and art—were my two favorite times in the classroom.
And Mem Fox? I’m a big fan, all the way back to her first book, Possum Magic. Bet her book on reading aloud to kids is full of gems.
As usual, David, your blog posts are high on my must-read list. Thanks for the thoughtful post.
@Mykl I hear you. Our youngest is one and older two are 9 and 13. We wonder if we should still be reading aloud to the older kids, just from higher-level books. They’re so into reading on their own that it feels weird.
@Amanda That’s awesome. Neither of my kids liked reading aloud themselves, so that’s pretty cool that your son does.
@Judy Dunn Reading picture books to first-graders must be fun. I had a 4th grade teacher who read to us from middle-grade books (no pictures). She had a way of reading that helped me form pictures in my mind, which may be partially why I went into storyboarding later on. I don’t know if the other kids got the same thing out of it, because I was such a strange child anyway.
@Mykl I hear you. Our youngest is one and older two are 9 and 13. We wonder if we should still be reading aloud to the older kids, just from higher-level books. They're so into reading on their own that it feels weird.
@Amanda That's awesome. Neither of my kids liked reading aloud themselves, so that's pretty cool that your son does.
@Judy Dunn Reading picture books to first-graders must be fun. I had a 4th grade teacher who read to us from middle-grade books (no pictures). She had a way of reading that helped me form pictures in my mind, which may be partially why I went into storyboarding later on. I don't know if the other kids got the same thing out of it, because I was such a strange child anyway.