Guest Post: Let's Talk About Reading

Author: Julie Kinney, Young Adult Librarian, Marathon County Public Library

Reading is a developmental process; not every six year old is ready to learn to read, while some four year olds are.  Early reading instruction is something that most parents do naturally:   They read to their children on a regular basis and invite them to handle books.  Most young children pick up that there is a right way to read a book; going from left to right and up and down.  They learn that there is a beginning and an end.  They begin to match pictures with the words that Mom or Dad say.  Some children memorize a favorite book and most children are delighted to “read” a book to their parents. 

But what happens if you grow up in a family where reading books to children doesn’t happen?  Unfortunately, those children don’t learn the basics about how books are supposed to be read.  Those children don’t hear Mom and Dad read or learn how to match pictures to sounds.  Inevitably, those kids are at a higher risk for reading problems down the road.

What can libraries and guardians do to support children on their literacy journey?  Read more about building successful readers in the rest of Julie's blog post HERE.