This video was prepared by the UK branch of Dorling Kindersley Books. Originally meant solely for a DK sales conference, the video was such a hit internally that it is now being shared externally. … Well worth a look - very clever.
To develop literacy skills all children need to be exposed to books and reading. For today’s techno-savvy youngest generation there is now an option to practice their reading skills online. Digital books are not meant as a replacement to paper books but another exciting medium to get kids reading more.
I love that the story can read aloud to kids whilst highlighting the words.
Children learn by repetition and we all know how kids can want the same story over and over again! So they can listen to the story a number of times and learn the associations between the sounds and the words.
I love that children can click on a word they are unfamiliar with and hear it spoken.
Without having to wait for adult intervention children can try and sound out a word whilst they are reading but if they get stuck they can hear it spoken by clicking on the word.
I love that ebooks look like a paper book with page turning.
Ebooks are not meant as a replacement to paper books but having digital books that look like their paper counterpart can instil a love of all books.
I love that the illustrations are animated.
Picture books that really come to life with animated illustrations – just magical.
I love the comprehension/memory quiz incorporated into the technology.
Children can listen to a story yet not pay attention. Having a comprehension/memory quiz can make sure they listen carefully and take more of the story in.
I love that children are using computer time as a learning experience.
As a parent myself I know how much the kids love to spend time on the computer. Now they can use screen time in an enjoyable and educational way.
I love that reluctant readers can be exposed to books in another medium.
Reluctant readers can hold strong negative associations with books so exposing them to digital formats can provide an alternative medium for them to be exposed to books which is not as threatening.
Digital books are not meant as a replacement for paper books. They are another medium that can harness a child’s passion for learning to read. They are a method for exposing children to more books whilst they are having fun. But don’t tell the children!
What do you do when your child would rather do anything else than read?
It can be really frustrating as a parent if your child has no interest or worse still an aversion to reading. You know that you need to encourage them to read to improve their literacy skills but what do you do when it becomes a battle rather than a source of enjoyment?
Reading is a skill just like any other. And when you do not have the basic skills then for some children trying to gain the skills becomes worse than not trying. Imagine you were learning to play tennis. How motivated would you be if the ball never went over the net? It wouldn’t be much fun would it, especially if the other player was getting stressed about it.
So the key is to relax yourself. Find ways to have fun reading in different situations. Reading doesn’t just have to be sitting down with a book.
If your child is struggling to read and is spending more time stumbling over the words try reading the book to the child first. Then let your child have a go at filling in some of the blanks that you leave. Then try taking turns reading a page or line. Make sure the book is about something that the child is really interested in. Try and find interesting facts books on a topic they enjoy such as sharks, dinosaurs or soccer. If the subject matter is interesting then your child is more likely to want to master the skills to decode the information.
There are lots of tools available online that can support your child’s reading skills whilst they are having fun. Educational games can improve language development, word recognition or spelling. Kids usually love using the computer and game based learning can be great fun as well as educational.
Ebooks that are animated and read the story aloud as the child follows the words can present reading in a different medium which is removed from the normal associations they have with sitting down to read a book. You can also let them master the tool themselves to develop their self confidence. Look out for books where emerging readers can have a go themselves and click on a word to hear it spoken, like the ones at wizz-e.com.
Try playing word games, like word snap or making words out of different letters. These can be made at home for free and introducing the fun element of play can engage a disinterested reader.
Let your child write their own stories and print them out. You could illustrate the story using images available on the internet, from magazines or let your child draw the pictures themselves. Your child will love showing and reading their books to anyone who will listen! If your child is not a confident writer, then write or type the story out for them.
If you remove the battle and encourage a love of reading using different methods your child will be developing their skills in a way that they enjoy. Just as with learning to playing tennis once one skill set is developed it encourages the desire to learn more.
I was recently reading a book about what affects literacy skills in young children and I thought I’d share some of the key research findings I came across.
The critical point that was made was that learning to read and write begins long before the school years. Research shows that the attitudes of adults who interact regularly with children have a huge influence the attitude of children learning to read (DeBaryshe, 1995; Baker et al., 1995; Spiegel, 1994). A number of factors affect these interactions, including the parents’ own attitudes towards reading, the children’s motivation for reading, the opportunities parents provide their children and how they behave, as well as the parents’ own reading and literacy ability levels.
So what does the research say? Here are a few excerpts.
Parents who believe that reading is a source of entertainment have children with a more positive view about reading than do parents who emphasize the skills aspect of reading development (Baker et al., 1997).
Children who view school learning as irrelevant to life outside school are less motivated to invest time and effort in learning to read (Purcell-Gates, 1994; Stipek et al., 1995).
When parents are responsive and ”chatty” during shared reading, improvements in their children’s skills have been recorded (e.g., Whitehurst et al., 1994).
Parents who believe their children are interested in reading are more likely to provide reading activities than parents who do not see such interest (Hiebert, 1981).
Enthusiasm about reading is suggested by many researchers as a route to development of the child’s active engagement in reading (Snow and Tabors, 1996; Baker et al., 1995).
Activities such as family storybook reading promote positive feelings about books and literacy (Taylor and Strickland, 1986).
Mealtime conversation helps children acquire knowledge about narratives when family members recount the day’s activities, giving children an experience of value in learning about language and communication (Snow and Tabors, 1993).
So some simple steps can promote reading skills in your children:
• talk to your children,
• share books,
• be enthusiastic about reading,
• chat about the books they are reading,
• be seen to enjoying reading yourself.
In a recent article in the Guardian UK a group of authors, publishers, teachers and librarians are calling on the government to make school libraries statutory.
This was a complete shock to me that school libraries were not statutory. How can we expect our children to explore the worlds that books open to them if they do not have access to books? How can we expect them to become literate adults if we do not support their education with access to the right tools?
Although anyone would support the right of prisoners to a library, as it can be part of the process of rehabilitation through education, why are we not offering this to our children? Research indicates that many young people who offend have low literacy levels, so are we to assume that we wait UNTIL they get to prison before we help them learn to read?
Access to books and reading is fundamental in us supporting our children’s literacy. We cannot afford to leave it until it is too late.
As parents we all want to give our children the best of the best, and that includes the best start at education. Most understand the importance of reading with your child to increase their joy of not only reading but learning.
When reading with your child ask them:
What was the story about?
Where did it take place? When did it take place?
Was there a moment that was especially exciting or moving? How did it come about?
Was there a character that you really liked? Why?
What did you discover through reading this book?
What was the main thing the author wanted you to learn?
These question will allow them to fall deeper into the story and recall more information. This may not be as important when reading Cinderella as it is when reading Biochemical Microbiology.
Whether you are reading from a book, Kindle or online… the focus is the same - reading is the main and most wonderful way to share ideas and imagination.
This week I have been talking with some young people about what reading is to them and what they like to read about. They had some very fun and very funny things to say.
Catherine, age 4
“I like to read books that are pink and have sparkles that have princesses and girls in them with a prince who loves pink princesses.”
Hank, age 6
“Books are fun only when my mom makes voices and my dad does the actions of the people inside the books.”
Jackson, age 3
“I just like books, they are fun when they are colorful.”
Ryan, age 7
“Books are good. My teachers makes us read for 20 minutes everyday but if I like to book I will read longer. My favorite book is Captain Underpants.”
I love hearing kids talk about books. You get such a wide description of their experiences. Ask your kids, or cousins, nieces or nephews what they like to read and what they do to prepare to read. Do they like quiet, alone time, bedtime, long books, pictures, or do they like to make up stories? Let them show you how they read. Then come share!
What a great time to show your green by skipping those paper books and find some new reads in ebooks. Not only are they a simple and easy way to catch up on your Spring reading list ebooks are completely GREEN!
The people at All Romance eBooks have launched a site all about going green. Not about authors or stories, but promoting the ebooks and all the glories that come with using them.
We chose to do this because the idea that nature should be preserved is important to us. It is a core value and one of the reasons that we adore eBooks
eBooks are delivered to the end user electronically. They are read electronically. They are disposed of with a push of a delete button, without ever taking up room in a landfill.
Some numbers:
Consider This:
It takes twelve trees to produce a ton of printing paper. Twenty-four trees for higher grade writing paper.
A mature tree can produce as much oxygen in a season as ten people inhale in a year.
Only 5% of the paper used in the book industry is recycled.
Up to 35% of books printed for consumers are never read. They are returned to the publisher and end up in landfills.
71% of the world’s paper supply comes from natural forests, rather than tree farms.
So, this St. Paddy’s day show the world that being green doesn’t have to end on March 18 and those trees can live another day!
Alexis Marcionette, 5th grade student from Florida, has signed a deal with K-8 online learning company BigIQkids.com to release her first book “”UGH…You Again!” in eBook format complete with interactive graphics, “click to hear” word functionality and built in reading comprehension and vocabulary quizzes.
This is fantastic. Kids are not only reading online they are writing! This shows those stuffy old adults that reading from a worksheet and then answering question in short answer is not learning. Kids who take things outside the box, are learning. They are taking what they take in and out putting it into a format they see. If you did not catch that allow me to rephrase. Billy, a 5 year old in kindergarten hears a story about a knight and a castle; he then goes home and tells his mother what story they read today in class. She gives him a piece of paper and a crayon and he draw the images he heard about. Then he makes a story to go with those pictures. He took that information in and relayed it into something tangible that he can now share with others. He learned. In opposition, Susie who is 7 read a short story in class today about a man who discovered a technique for pasteurization. Susie was asked to then write 5 sentences about the story of Louis Pasture. She wrote 5 basic sentences and handed her appear in. When she got home she was asked about her day and what she did. She relayed the information of “some guy who made milk safe.” Because she was forced to regurgitate the information her imagination was blocked.
This proves that information must be free when teaching children to learn. Not just read but learn. Miss Marcionette took advantage of speaking out in a an area she felt comfortable to explore and therefore share what she is learning.
Giving children the book is not as important as giving them the knowledge to interpret and share the information inside it.
Who were these words flying from you ask? Well, upon the launch we sent out emails to moms, dads, grandparents, and friends asking them to check out the sight and email back their thoughts. They had so much to say. Mostly the comments surprised us. As they told of the search for online books that were diverse enough to keep and toddler engaged and challenging enough to keep a young reader interested so they return to the site. Most had been introduced to ebooks before but not in children’s media.
They did have some questions too. Steve from Oklahoma asked “the ebook is great but how can a child learn from this media, also is it your intention to release the traditional book?” I answered “by no means.” We are partnering with parents to encourage and engage children though technology, this to which they are already well versed. Karen from New Mexico asked “what are ebooks? Is it something like kindle books?” I answered, “Yes, Karen they are somewhat like Kindle books, however our books are made for young readers. They are designed with audio and animation to enchant the reader and show then that reading can come to life.” Our books are unique and diverse enough for children ages 3-8.
We encourage you to check out WIZZ-E.COM and let us know what you think of the site!!
We chose to do this because the idea that nature should be preserved is important to us. It is a core value and one of the reasons that we adore eBooks 
