"You are your child's Cheer Leaders"

What a delightful way to express how parents can support their children's learning and self esteem! I heard this uttered by a primary school teacher with regards to supporting your new entrant as they start to read school readers.

It was good advice and reminds all of us who are parents, that our children need our support and encouragement as they learn. Give them lots of positive affirmations (the cheers!) about what they CAN and ARE doing well not negative feedback about what they can't yet do.

She added, "Let the teacher be the coach while you cheer from the side lines".

I couldn't agree more because if anyone has the credentials to cheer the best and loudest for your child its got to be you don't you think? Well I know from my own experiences on the sidelines of the soccer field that I have the loudest voice when my child has the ball! LOL!

Jo

The Merits of Reading to Your Child

Reading to your child is not only a wonderful bonding time with your child it is also an opportunity for your child to learn. Reading to children assists with language development because children are hearing new words and learning how those words are used in certain settings. They learn how language is made up and the patterns that occur. Reading allows ideas and information to be exchanged. Children can often relate to the experiences in the stories they hear. This often opens the door to some interesting discussions. Children learn about the unknown through books. When children talk about the content of books it is supporting the building of their understanding of the story or information. Children learn that books contain messages and that the story or information is constant from one day to the next. It doesn't change. Every time they read the book it will have the same words and pictures. This allows children to become familiar with story plots and characters, and recall details. Listening skills and concentration can also be enhanced.


When we read to children we are providing sound models of how we read (tone and pace). We demonstrate where to start reading and where to stop. We demonstrate how to handle books. We show that we like reading and that helps foster positive attitudes to reading in our young children.