by Jacqulyn Anderson, Library Director
…there was a little girl who loved fairy tales and other exciting stories. She lived with lots of adults, and someone—a parent, a grandparent, an older brother, cousin, uncle, aunt—was always willing to read to her. I was that fortunate little girl.
Families who read to children participate in developing a love for books and learning which will last a lifetime. Today there is a trend to buy/rent books on tape or DVD and let electronics provide the story as adults watch football or soaps. Everyone loses when adults forego the reading experience with children. Psychologists say children feel a great sense of security when an adult reads to them because they usually are in the reader’s lap or snuggled up close. They know they have the reader’s undivided attention—no TV or conversation with another.
Reading needs to begin with the baby to encourage listening and to develop word recognition. As a child is able to sit up in the adult’s lap, books with large simple pictures may be introduced and objects identified. As the child’s attention span increases, the parent may read stories with big pictures and simple one sentence-per-page text which involve familiar words and activities. By eighteen months, many children can point to specific objects and may correctly identify them. From this age forward, parents will be able to increase the length of reading time as well as the depth of the story. When children learn to read, they still need and enjoy having someone read to them. Their listening and comprehension vocabulary far exceeds their reading skills until they reach about the fourth grade. Parents with two or more children need to be cautious in letting a first or second grader read the story for younger ones. Often the beginning reader requires help and reads so haltingly that a younger child cannot follow the story and gets bored.
Our church library contains an excellent selection for children beginning with picture books and simple stories and moving to “chapter books,” biographies, subject-oriented non-fiction, and reference works, Bible stories, Bible reference books, and books on Christian living. Children are welcomed to select their own books and check them out. They like to see their names on the computer screen. Someone is always available to help when the library is open.
Bring your child to the church library and CHECK US OUT!.
