Dads Make A Difference When They Read To Their Children

One of the biggest impacts a dad can have on their child's literacy development is by reading to and with their child.  Reading together will help you child become and remain a life long reader. Studies show that boys who are read to “by their fathers scored significantly higher in reading achievement, and when fathers read for pleasure, their sons read more and scored higher than did boys whose fathers did little or no recreational reading” (Trelease xxiv).  However, possibly the most important reason for dads to read out loud to their children is the positive bond that they’ll create as they spend quality time together. 

Benefits:

1. Nurtures imagination and self-confidence.
2. Greatly improves your child's vocabulary.
3. Builds "background knowledge"-  develops a basic understanding of the world around  your child.
4. Helps to develop the concept of basic story structure - beginning, middle, end, plot, characters.
5. This child-centered activity encourages warm and positive interaction between parents and children (U.S. Department of Education, 1999).                               

Inspiring Reluctant Readers

  
 How do we uncover the potential of reluctant readers?  Parents and teachers alike wonder what we can do to inspire them to become readers. The experts agree that there are different types of reluctant readers and that there is a vast range within the realm of reluctant readers.  A reluctant reader is one who does not show any interest or motivation to read. You may note that some reluctant readers just need a bit of encouragement to read or they may be the child that purposefully avoids reading in any form. Reluctant readers many times tend to deflect their ambivalence towards reading by exhibiting certain behaviors. Some common behaviors are avoidance of reading activities, acting silly, making negative choices, or shutting down completely.  Many times these reluctant readers have become masters at shadowing their adverse feelings towards reading. When parents and teachers start to see a pattern of these behaviors it is time to start looking closer at what is exactly at the root of the problem.

Possible Causes of Reluctance

*Learning difficulties or academic gaps could be definite reasons for a child to become reluctant. Communication between the teacher and parent will be necessary in order to identify or rule out possible learning difficulties or academic gaps.

*Mismatched reading levels and interests are another cause of reluctance. One of the main reasons students do not read or complete a book is that the child's reading level is not correctly matched to the readability level of the text (book/story).  Also, it is a must to consider a child's interests when helping them to choose independent reading material.

*Providing motivation to read also plays an imperative role in creating inspired readers rather than reluctant readers.

Motivational Ideas.....