When I was babysitting for kids while growing up (I started at 12 and continued through most of college as my only source of employment), I had no problem when the kids asked for the same story to be read multiple times. When I was teaching preschool, my class would often ask for the same closing story weeks in a row. It was not until I had my own children asking for the very.same.story over and over and over again with no end in sight—no parents coming to claim these precious ones which would end the never ending story—that I realized why all those other parents didn’t read the same story over and over to their kids too.
I was reminded today though, just how important repetitive reading is. Take heart other
parents out there like me—there is a purpose behind reading the same story over
and over again. Reading skills are
developed over time. They begin in
infancy (some would say they even start in the womb as you read out loud to
your baby and your baby listens to the cadence of your reading voice) as your
baby chews away on board books and snatches them from your hand rather than
turning the page. At 10-months-old, Nate
doesn’t love to sit through an entire book yet.
In his Christmas stocking though, he got two little chubby books with an
animal picture on one side and the animal name on the other. These are his
books (very different from Josiah’s books, mind you). They are from Dollar Tree (both for a dollar
couldn’t be passed up) and are by no means great children’s literature. When we read the farm one though, I say the
name of the animal while pointing at it and make the animal sound. He is rarely sitting in my lap, preferring to
hold onto my arm and bounce while we read.
Last week he started copying the “baa” of a sheep and the “moo” of a cow
after me. He is beginning to read.
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It may not sound like reading to the rest of the world, but
he is putting a word to a picture. That’s
all reading is. A wise kindergarten
teacher, Mrs. Corrine Larsen, teaches her students that, “reading is saying
what you see.” We look at these pictures
we call letters and associate a sound with them and we put those pictures
together and then we have a word that we read.
It will not be long before Nate sees a picture of a sheep and reads “baa”
on his own. How do I know? Fast-forward a couple of years
developmentally and look at Josiah.
Josiah took part in his first Summer Reading Program at the
library when he was seven-months-old. I
have participated in these programs as long as I can remember (yes, even as an
adult). I love books. I love free.
I love prizes. Really, why wouldn’t
I participate and drag my children along with me? I don’t actually have to drag them because
our library has excellent story times and this incredible early learning center
that rivals the spaces at the preschools I’ve seen.
His first summer there was only one board book left for him to choose from which he didn’t mind because he didn’t even know how to make choices yet. (Today I would argue that at twenty-eight-months-old he still does not…it’s been that sort of a day.) It was titled SPLASH and is a book with babies playing in water and one line of rhyming text per page. It was perfect and we read and read and read that book. He would even “read” it on his own when he was having some alone play time. We talked about the pictures and sang Ernie’s “Rubber Duckie” song (there’s a rubber duck one baby is playing with) and talked about when he takes a bath or goes swimming. I do not change the words when I am reading a story. It means I can’t cheat and cut some out, but I do it because it is important for a child to hear the same words over and over as they relate to the picture on the page. Eventually, I will begin tracking each of those words with my finger and the kids will learn that those series of letters are the word that I am saying.
His first summer there was only one board book left for him to choose from which he didn’t mind because he didn’t even know how to make choices yet. (Today I would argue that at twenty-eight-months-old he still does not…it’s been that sort of a day.) It was titled SPLASH and is a book with babies playing in water and one line of rhyming text per page. It was perfect and we read and read and read that book. He would even “read” it on his own when he was having some alone play time. We talked about the pictures and sang Ernie’s “Rubber Duckie” song (there’s a rubber duck one baby is playing with) and talked about when he takes a bath or goes swimming. I do not change the words when I am reading a story. It means I can’t cheat and cut some out, but I do it because it is important for a child to hear the same words over and over as they relate to the picture on the page. Eventually, I will begin tracking each of those words with my finger and the kids will learn that those series of letters are the word that I am saying.
Today, the past two years paid off. I have been sick and my throat is very sore,
which limits the amount of reading I can do.
We had read a couple of books, we read SPLASH and Josiah asked
for it again. I had told him it would be
our last book. I told him I couldn’t
read any more because of my voice hurting and could he read it to me. He turned the book around, opened it up to
the first page, and read. Almost every
single word. Each sentence corresponding
with the correct picture. Turning the
pages when it was time. Then he hopped
up and did something two, which he probably got a consequence for because as I
mentioned earlier it has been that sort of a day. But it stuck with me. This is why I read the very.same.story over
and over and over again with no end in sight—it’s so that I can raise
readers. And why raise a reader? Because, as my very dear friend Sarah Simmons
once told me, “If I can read it, I can do it.”
Thanks for reading,
Jenna
Try these pre-reading tips for repetitive readings at home:
Try these pre-reading tips for repetitive readings at home:
- Read through the book and if another reading is requested, go through and talk about the pictures together instead of reading the text again.
- Ask questions while you are reading. It can be as simple as, "Where is the dog?" to "Why do you think the character (use the character's name) did that?" or "How would that make you feel?"
- Limit the number of times you'll read a book in a row. In our house, I'll read a book two times in a row. I may still read it a dozen times in a day, but at least some variety is thrown in. :)
- For old favorites, read and omit words allowing your child to fill those words in. This is especially easy with rhyming books, but can eventually be done with any words. Those words at the end of sentences seem to be the easiest for children to provide.
