Summer Reading Reading to your charges is important. It gives you time to bond. It tells the children that reading is important. It lets you share your knowledge and ideas with children. Reading calms children down when transitioning to nap time or bedtime.
If you care for children attending school this Autumn we hope you have a copy of the school's summer reading list and have borrowed books from the library to read to the kids. If not, why not stop by the local library this week and get reading with your charges?
Here are some ways to have fun with the children when reading with them:
Use Funny Voices:
We often change our voices when speaking for a character in a book. For example, we might raise our voice into a high pitch tone for a princess, yet a deep voice for a villain. As you read a story to a child remember to use your voice to draw attention to a special or new word too. You can say the word in a funny way, sing it, say it loud or soft, and even make funny faces. Introduce the kids to real sounds by saying, "Woof" when pointing to a dog.
Sound Clapping:
When you say a word clap for the main sound parts in the word. For example, "The first word is Baby. I'll clap and say the word again. Ba-by" Clap two times and say it again. Take the child's name and clap it out. For example, Maria is three claps, ice cream is two claps, banana is three claps, and so on,
Stories Come to Life:
Creating and acting out a story make it come to life. Select a story that the child knows. Tell her that you will read the story out loud. As you read, find one word such as "HOPPED" and say it in a louder voice. Ask the child to act out the loud word when she hears it by hopping. You may choose another word in the story to say loudly. If you read, "the LEAF fell to the ground," the child will fall to the ground like the leaf.
Guess the Rhyme:
Children love to guess words that rhyme. Read and entire nursery rhyme to your charge. Now reread the nursery rhyme leaving out the last word of every other line of the rhyme. Le the child fill in the last word. For example, "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great ______." Keep doing this with other nursery rhymes.
Ask a Question:
Read a page of a book to a child, then stop and ask a question. For example, "How do you think the little train felt in this story?" "What do you think the silly monkey will do next?" Encourage the child to talk and relate what you have read to the child's own life. "How are you like the little train?" "Have you ever done anything like what the silly monkey did?"
These fun reading activities come from 365 Reading Activities
Do you make time to read daily to your charges? What fun reading activities do you do with children?
4 comments:
yes we read daily before nap. the kids love acting out the stories as plays. super ideas.
One of the great ways to get kids used to the idea of summer reading for one they get older is to take advantage of summer reading programs, activities, and incentives to read that libraries offer. I've done this with my preschooler charges all the time. They always look forward to special theme events, and when summer ended one set of them just presumed they could continue to dress up in costume to come to the library (A nanny picks her battles and figures, oh lose this one who cares they are having fun.)
What I always love to do with books is think outside it's covers to expand the story whether it's through some arts or craft project, science experiment, and especially when food is mentioned. I'll make some recipe based on something in a story.
The kids I work with like books with puppets.
I love taking kids once a week to summer library program. During the year the librarian has a theme and does a craft project after reading the books.
I absolutely love the ideas you are providing for nannies. I have hired a wonderful nanny and thrilled she subscribes to this pulicaton. Parents really will appreciate their caregiver taking the time to do some fun learning activities this summer. Previously our caregiver watched tv and movies and talked on her cell phone with friends all day instead of engaging my children in any fun or educational activities. Our current nanny goes to library at least once a week, is making a summer journal daily with the kids that they are pasting photos and illustrating themselves. I can't tell you enough how much parents will appreciate your trying to involve the children in these types of activities.
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