Stop Press - I started a blog!

[seastar]

I've decided to throw my hat into the blogging ring. While the first post, 'Read aloud to increse your child's IQ' may be old hat to you guys, do stop by as I would appreciate your comments and feedback.

http://catherinehallissey.wordpress.com/2012/11/22/read-aloud-to-increase-your-childs-iq/

(please excuse the long name - I'm waiting to link another domain name)

[MarthaT]

Very nice!

[Mandabplus3]

Looks good on the iPad too

[nee1]

Seastar,

Great article on benefits of reading aloud.

Have you read 'Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever' by Mem Fox?
 (Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Reading-Magic-Children-Change-Forever/dp/0156035103/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353664748&sr=1-1&keywords=reading+magic.)  I was thinking of getting the book to see if  she has anything significant or different to say from Jim Trelease. I have Jim Trelease's Read Aloud Handbook, but since I love comparing the different opinions and insights of different authors, I was thinking of getting Mem Fox's book too. Your thoughts?

[seastar]

Thanks for the support guys 

nee - I haven't read that book. It seems very interesting and it looks like it would be a quick an easy read. Maybe someone else on here has read it? Like you, I also like to read from a variety of sources. When I first started reading Glenn Doman's books, I then read 'Why Einstein Never Used Flashcards', just to make sure I read something from the other side!

[Mandabplus3]

I have read it. I am not going to recommend it. TO be completely honest it's very basic. I don't think anyone on this forum ( unless they are very new to the forum) will gain much from it. It's a book for those parents with no clue.  it has been a few years since I read it though...I read it when my oldest was 2! 

[Krista G]

I have read Mem Fox's book.  I remember liking it way back when, but I think Jim Treleases's book was far better.  I read Mem's book through my library.  It was a short quick read basically saying that she read to her daughter a lot as a young child and her daughter learned to read on her own.  At first she thought she memorized the book, but then realized that she really knew how to read.  She advocates reading to your kids a lot.  I think we are all on board here with that already.  I did like What to Read When and also The Book Whisperer,

http://www.amazon.com/What-Read-When-Stories-Child--/dp/1583333347/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353710257&sr=8-1&keywords=what+to+read+when

http://www.amazon.com/Book-Whisperer-Awakening-Inner-Reader/dp/0470372273/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353710288&sr=1-1&keywords=the+book+whisperer

You might enjoy those.  I read these also through my library.

Nice blog SeaStar.  Thanks for sharing.  No matter how much I know reading is good for my kids I still enjoy the subject.

Thanks.

[seastar]

Nice blog SeaStar.  Thanks for sharing.  No matter how much I know reading is good for my kids I still enjoy the subject.

Thanks Krista. Those books you linked look great - I'm always looking for more to read in the subject too.

[audrachloe]

Good article.  I am relatively new to this early learning business and have been spending a lot of time looking at different resources.  I love the reading 1000 books to your toddler challenge.

[seastar]

Thanks for the support audrachloe.

One of the brill parents on here started the reading challenge earlier in the year. Just in case you haven't seen it, here's the link:

http://forum.brillkids.com/general-discussion-b5/2012-book-challenge/

[audrachloe]

I hadn't seen the link.  Thanks for posting it.  I feel like I've learned so much in the past month or two, but I still can't get enough information. Wanting to teach him has actually taught me and renewed my own interest in learning.

[saskia2015]

The article is so helpful and I learned something that I can use to teach my son!I might as well as buy the book on amazon!thank you so much

[seastar]

The article is so helpful and I learned something that I can use to teach my son!I might as well as buy the book on amazon!thank you so much

Saskia - I'm delighted you found it helpful. BTW you might be able to find that book in your local library.

I hadn't seen the link.  Thanks for posting it.  I feel like I've learned so much in the past month or two, but I still can't get enough information. Wanting to teach him has actually taught me and renewed my own interest in learning.

Audrachloe  - I feel the same way - teaching my kids has definitely renewed my interest in learning (and teaching)!

[nee1]

Seastar,

Question please. In your blog article on reading aloud (http://catherinehallissey.com/2012/11/22/read-aloud-to-increase-your-childs-iq/), you said something insightful here:

``I recently joined an online challenge to read 1000 books to my toddler in a year. Within a fortnight of beginning, I noticed a HUGE improvement in both her language skills and her interest in learning to read. ‘’

In other words, her language skills took off 2 weeks after you started the 1000 book challenge that someone started on this forum. My question is:  what did you start to do differently when you started the challenge? I guess you must have been reading aloud prior to the challenge, but I also guess you started doing some things differently when you started the challenge.

What did you change or do differently when you started the challenge? Did you increase the number of books you read each day? From how many to what? Did you increase the number of hours you read aloud? From how many to what? Did you increase the complexity of books you read? Please share more details here. I asked because I'm trying to get my kid to talk more and enunciate better, and I thought your strategies might be very helpful to me.

Thank you for a response.

[seastar]

nee - I changed a number of things, but the biggest difference was that I greatly increased the number of books we read each day. Prior to this, we had been reading a minimum of 3 books a day (pretty low, I know!). Once we started the challenge, it was a minimum of 10, often up to 20. My husband and I are naturally pretty quiet so our house is definitely not filled with chatter. So, increasing read-aloud time went some way towards Hart & Risely's quantity of words recommendation.

The next step was Hart & Risely's quality of words quota. She loves for me to read the same books over and over (and over) again. And, if she likes a book, I tend to buy all the other books written by the same author. However, reading the same books by the same handful of authors was limiting the vocabulary she was being exposed to. By increasing the number of books, she heard a far greater variety of words.
 
The type of books also changed. As we have a very small library in our town, we quickly went through my first choices & I then had to take what we could get. The resulted in me reading a greater variety of books, many of which were beyond the level we had read up to that point. To counter balance this, I included some very easy books in every session.

The positive changes were dramatic for us. I know she may have been due a language burst anyway, but in my heart I feel it was down to the reading challenge.

Something I have found very useful for developing speech is to discuss our day. We call this "The Story of Today" - she is OBSESSED with it. Before going to sleep, I run through everything we did that day. I have been doing this for around 18 months. I really think it has helped develop her language skills as it ensures she has the words to describe her experiences. She also has an incredible episodic memory, which I feel is due, in large part, to this activity. We have expanded this to include "The Plan of Today", where we discuss our schedule for the day - although I must admit that I often forget to do this.

I am also doing my best to talk, talk, talk, explaining everything I do, why I am doing it, and answering her endless questions as truthfully as I can.

Pretend play is another big one for us - we role play all day long. She likes to act out each of the classes we attend and we take turns being the teacher. She also likes to role play common activities, such as going to a cafe, going to the shop etc. A hugely positive effect of this is that she seems to be working through her fears - for example, we constantly have to act out going to the dentist. We went to a Halloween parade & she was terrified of a giant witch on stilts there. Well, this has been incorporated into her play almost daily, where she gets me to pretend I am saying 'hello' & shaking the witch's hand. She hates putting her head under the water in swimming class. But this has improved dramatically since we have been acting it out as part of her play.

Anyway, I know this is all pretty basic stuff, but it has worked for us.

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