Reading is much more than just a something we do in school. It can be a hobby, a bonding time, a chance for children to learn language as well as increase future success. Reading to our children is so important and Sarah is here to help use understand all the benefits that come with reading. Reading can create a foundation of so many positive benefits in our lives.
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Jen: Welcome to the Parents Place podcast with Hilary and Jen.
Hilary: Welcome to the Parents Place podcast. Today we are excited that you guys are here with us. We have a special guest. She's very special in our eyes. So, she's actually one of our colleagues here at the office. And if you are an active listener to our podcast, you have heard her before, and so she's so good that we wanted to invite you back. So here we go. This is Sarah Orton and she overseas our PAT program, which Sarah, I know that you've explained it before, but if you wouldn't mind, just maybe giving a very brief overview of that program so our listeners know. And then we'll talk about our topic for today.
Sarah: Yeah, of course. I'm excited to be here with you guys. So, I'm in charge of a free home visiting program called Parents as teachers. And parents as teachers is actually a national program that you're not here in Cash valley listening to this, it is all over the United States. It's also in other parts of the world. So, if you are interested in our parents as teachers program, you can probably find a local home visiting program near you where you can have this in your own home. But it's a free home visiting program where a home visitor comes to your home and we focus on three main things. We focus on a parent child interaction and playing with your kids. You know new ways you can play with your kids, as well as looking at that play, you're a different sense of lens. Because your child learns from interacting with the world around them, and so learning and supporting their development through play. As well as we talk about a parenting topic, maybe it's why is my child always eating Mac and cheese? or how gonna be better at positive discipline? All those things that come with parenting. Cause guess what guys? Parenting doesn't come with a handbook does it. But there are free home visitors that can help you through all these things. And then we have a family well-being topic that we focus on. So maybe it's mental health or self-care. Maybe we focus on helping you find another job or go back to school or how can you get more connected with your community, things like that affect the whole family. And then we do monthly socials and screenings to make sure your child is developmentally on track. And it's just an amazing free program to support families because parenting is hard, and sometimes you just need someone on your side. And this program is meant for that, and so I'm in charge of that. Our local coalition here at the Family Place here in Cache Valley.
Hilary: That's so awesome. I just, there's just so many wonderful components to this program, and I love it. And I mean, as you guys know, I've talked about my kids. And so my kids are getting older, but there is specifically and vividly remember when I had young children in the home and how hard that was, and how lonely that felt oftentimes and how lost I was in trying to figure out is my child doing what they're supposed to be doing? Is this normal or are they developmentally delayed? How am I supposed to respond to this? And so, I think there are so many parents out there that are in that very similar boat where they do feel isolated and they are home primarily most of the time and haven't yet had the ability to build that social connection and so I love that. You are providing that education but you're also providing that social support too.
Sarah: Yeah, it really is an amazing program just to empower and support parents.
Hilary: So for our local listeners, if that is a program that is of interest to you, what's the best way to sign up? Get in touch, be added to the list, Just call the family Place?
Sarah: Yeah, call the family place and they'll get you in touch with me and we can get you a home visitor as soon as possible.
Hilary: Awesome. Perfect. OK, so if I remember correctly, Sarah, one of the things that you guys like to do, whether this be every visit or whether this be quite often in your visits is to read stories to the kids or have activities around books.
Sarah: We have like a lending library where we'll bring a book that they can read and keep for the week, and then we'll switch that with another book because reading is one of the most crucial skills that you learn in life. It helps you to be successful and to thrive and to function in life. And so, starting that strong foundation off when they're really young is crucial for a child's success.
Hilary: OK, so let's talk about that a little bit, because I think sometimes we may get this idea that reading is important, but it happens in school, you know, and we'll wait till our kids are in school for them to build that skill and they're it all the things we can do leading up to that to help aid that success. So, for these little ones, for our focus primarily on babies and toddlers and preschoolers as well too. What should that look like in our home, when it comes to reading?
Sarah: I would say just start off strong. Start a foundation where you are reading to your babies. It may seem kind of silly, you know, like oh, they don't really know what I'm saying. They don't really understand the concept of a story or what these pictures mean. But it's more than that. You're just setting a culture within your own home. You're setting a foundation where you're letting know that reading is fun. That it's relaxing. And reading and rhymes, especially if you're reading to babies incorporating rhymes and rhyming books, rhymes really appeal to a baby's brain, because that repetition is super important for the brain to learn phenomes and just language and syllables and stuff like that. So, rhyming their babies is a great way to start. If you don't want to sit down or if you have a rhyming book and just like even books without moving parts in it, or have a touch and feel aspect, they're so good for your baby in their brain because it really appeals to those systems and their visual cortex in their little brain and so. Yeah, just starting off strong as a as a baby is super important. And if you didn't read to your child as a baby, that's fine. It's really hard to screw up a kid. Kids are pretty resilient, right? But there are things we can do in their lives to be able to set them up for success. And so if you do have toddlers are preschoolers still at home, making that a habit is a huge benefit in their lives.
Hilary: Well, and I like the idea that. Like you said, for some parents they may, they may feel a little odd reading to their baby. That obviously isn't going to respond back or answer questions or point out, you know, different things that that have perked to their interest. But I love the idea that we're just, I mean, we're making it a habit. Not only for them, but for us too, right. So, that we can get in the habit of doing this on a regular basis. It's part of our routine. Right. We have a spot on the couch that we tend to go to. We have a stack of books that we can refer to. And so, I like the idea that it becomes part of us too.
Sarah: Yeah. And not only is it good for your children, it's so amazing for your relationship. Reading increases relationship satisfaction between children and their caregivers. It's an important bonding time and increases that attachment. They feel safe. This is a time where they can really connect with mom and Dad or aunt or uncle or grandma or Grandpa. And having a child feel that way is a great foundation for learning when a child's brain feels safe, then learning happens and learning grows. When a child's brain doesn't feel safe, then learning doesn't happen at all. And so, this is a great way to just set up that foundation. So not only does increase relationships and that is super important bonding. But it's just like good brain food as well, because when you're reading it's stimulating your visual cortex. They're increasing their memory. They're, you know, they're looking at these pictures or these words or hearing these stories, and they have to make connections about what they already know about otters or dirt or, you know, this rhyme. And so, you're helping strengthen that memory and those brain connections that are happening in their little heads and just increasing that network of knowledge. Which is going to set them up for greater success in school as well as create and peak that curiosity. Cause we all have a child who's super interested in trucks or dinosaurs. Or some specific topic. And so, if you're reading about that peaks that curiosity and expands their little brain.
Hilary: Yes, it's monster trucks at our house and I remember we went to the library a few weeks ago and my son happened to find a monster truck book and you would have thought that it was Christmas time. He was so excited! And I can't tell you how many times we have read that book. But it was so fun to watch him and to see his excitement about this particular topic being opened up and explored through a book. So it was it was really cool. Ok, is there a right or wrong way of doing this? Because sometimes my kids will pull out books that are really long and I might summarize it, or I might just point out pictures rather than read the entire page, right? I mean, am I messing things up if I do it certain ways versus other ways?
Sarah: No, that is totally fine. Especially those little kids they don't really know that you're making up the story, right? I've totally done that before. What matters is really, is that time with you and that they're getting this information and this knowledge and there's ways that you can be more engaged with reading, of course. Reading in a silly voice that's super appealing for kids using different voices, using the inflection with your voice that's important to not only make reading fun. But to help kids learn how to use voice inflection and how to speak and have that dialogic reading. There's also, like I said, there's something called dialogic reading which is open asking opening questions when you're reading. So like, OK, how do you think this character's feeling right now because of what happened? Or what do you think's going to happen next? Before you turn the page, even if this is a story you've read a billion times, like that monster truck book, Hilary asking those things now, I get them engaged. But it helps them think deeply. It helps their comprehension skills. Builds their verbal communication and just retaining storylines. So dialogic reading is super helpful, and that's just asking open-ended questions when you're reading. And so next time you're reading, I want you to incorporate a couple of questions into your book. You maybe you have a nighttime routine, and you ask, you know, what do you think's going to happen next? How do you think Susie in the book feels? Ohh, where can he find the dog? What does the dog say? Right. You know, depending on the kids age, you can still ask questions even when they're a toddler. Where's the dog? What sound does a dog make? Oh yeah. Woof! You know and really exaggerate those elements that are in the book. Woof like the dog. Find the color red. OK, now where's the color red here in the room. You know, just really make this a sensory experience. We'll open the doors to children in their minds and their brains because it is increasing their literary skills. When you read to them, you're having them have more phenonic awareness, which is a huge precursor you're reading. As well as understanding that you know these words on a book it actually represents the words that you speak that prints, represents words you know, and also there's a huge one for families, but you're actually increasing their listening skills. So, if you're like, I don't know if my child's deaf or just selective hearing you know. I think we all question that with the kids, but reading to them increases their listening skills. Not only are they getting new words, but they're practicing that skill of listening and retaining what you're saying. So next time you're like, did you hear what I say? I asked you to clean your room, right? You're helping them gain that skill when you're reading with them.
Hilary: OK, so you mentioned. This listening thing, which I've been there with all of my kids, so I feel it. I got that one. But I know that there are some parents that are probably out there and they're thinking my child, like they don't have the attention span to listen to me read I, you know, I sit them on my lap and then 30 seconds later they're done and they want to get down and run around and play. And so, for those parents that maybe are struggling and feel like their child maybe isn't engaged in reading, or doesn't even necessarily like reading what? What can we do for that?
Sarah: Yeah, and that's a real thing, because some of our toddlers can't sit for more than two minutes, so that's OK. I would say, even if you're your child is doesn't like necessarily like reading. I would first of all say to a parent, keep it in your team, keep it a consistent habit in your life because part of my job here at the Family Place. I work with families in their homes and I were working with a family where the child could not sit down and listen to the book. They kept turning the pages. Ripping the pages couldn’t care less, right? But after honestly, it took a couple of months of just always consistently doing this. And now the child loves to read. This is a special time between her and her caregiver to sit down with a snuggle and to read a book. And the caregiver has learned how to, you know, OK, act silly to read, question or ask those questions. So, you get your child actually engaged in what's happening with the book. Or you maybe you act about what's happening in the book and just be patient with yourself, be patient with your child, because maybe this is a new experience you're bringing into your routine or your child just is not part of it and it's important that you model being a reader. Read things out loud, see them reading you, having you read a book or like you're reading the child's book to another, to their sibling or anything like that, and giving them independence, letting them choose the book. Because when they choose the book, maybe they choose 20 monster truck books and you're like, I'm sick, and tired of reading Monster truck book, but you're teaching them that this is reading is fun. No, we have to read this book about Colonial America or whatever.
Hilary: They don't want to read that I don't want to even read that.
Sarah: Haha no! So letting them choose and exercise that independence is huge, so that they can feel a part of something special and be excited about this whole reading process as well. It's just something I want to add in for toddlers, developmentally, it takes 30 seconds for a toddler to hear, process and respond and so when we are, and I think we need to give more grace to children. Because we expect this answers right away. We expect them to be obedient. We expect them to respect us, right? But 30 seconds is actually a really long time. And when you are repeating things over. Like, did you hear me? Go clean your room. Go clean your room or whatever you're repeating it that 30 seconds starts over and so being patient with yourself and being patient with your kids. Not only when you're reading, but just in life and if someone's experienced trauma, that 30 seconds is even longer. And so being patient when you're asking questions or when you're talking to someone that knowing that, OK, a child, a three-year old developmentally takes 30 seconds for them to hear, process and respond. And so again being patient with this process as you are reading or interacting with your child in their everyday life is super important. So speak slowly, read slowly because it is taking them more time to process what's happening in the book or the questions that you're asking.
Jen: Well, I was just thinking while you were naming off all of those commands, that child is probably back on command number one trying to figure it out as you're doing command #3 they figure out one, but now they got to go back out and figure out two, and you're frustrated,
Sarah: And by that time you are frustrated and your child's frustrated. And then reading's not fun or eating is not fun, or cleaning the rooms not fun.
Jen: Sounds like a big fight I wouldn't want to fight.
Hilary: You know, I remember. I can't, I've been trying to remember which one of my kids it was, but I know one of my kids, I get it was frustrating because I try to read them a story and before I was done finishing the page, they'd hurry and flip it over before I can finish reading all the words. And I'd be like, I'm not done yet, wait just a second. And I'm kind of like, you know, push their hand away like they're not done with that page and they just keep wanting to flip. And so, I think this is a good reminder that we kind of just let them take the reins. And if they flip the page, we go with it, you know? And so, you don't necessarily have to make it a really, you know, rigid, rigid structured event but like keep it, keep it flexible.
Sarah: They're going to learn, but things happen in a sequence of events. Meaning this page has to come before this page, right? So, if your child is flipping through things, I would pick your battles carefully. Because if you're fighting over, no, I need to finish this page. You sit over here, you're not blah blah, and you start to get frustrated. Your children's going to mirror that and they're going to get frustrated. And then that is going to teach them that reading's not fun, right? So choose your battles wisely. Is it really worth it? Do you really have to read the last sentence on this page? Can you move on? You're not teaching them bad skills by having them keep flipping it through, right? They're going to naturally learn. Kids naturally outgrow some of these things. And again, I think we need to give our kids some more grace on some of these. Maybe certain behaviors that you're like, no, this comes first and then this comes first. They're going to naturally learn that, and so just take this time to enjoy reading with your kids. Be silly, ask questions. Repeat those words that they need, and all that jazz and set them up for success. Go get a library card. Expose them to the library, so my favorite memories is going to the library with my. And just like the smell of folks, and that you feel so special, picking out a book and handing the librarian a card like that is such a special experience for a child, even a child who doesn't even like books that much, it's still a special experience and so encourage you all to go get a library card to your local library and just go to the library. If you're a stay-at-home parent, there's library reading times. Go after school, go after work. Just spend time in the library and spend time having your children choose out their own books, because that's going to be a huge way of helping them get excited about reading.
Jen: You just, like, wiggled a memory. Yeah, and I'm just remembering and having to go. We're going to the library. My mom always took us and we come back with this huge stack of books, but the smell there is a definite smell. But also when they have the plastic or the I don't know the covering over the front of the book to protect it. And you open it up and it just crackles. Yeah, I can hear that right now Yeah, totally just wiggled the memory.
Hilary: Libraries are amazing. They really are, and I think that they do such a good job. I mean, at least in the in the towns that I've lived in, they do such a good job at like you said providing groups for parents and you know story times and crafts and things like that. And even within the doors of the library, usually there's different puzzles and activities that kids can participate in and I just think it's such an untapped resource this so many people don't take advantage of and love my library. It's so fun.
Sarah: It's so it's so special, isn't it. And then, once your kids are like they are reading on their own. That's a special place for them to choose their own books, and then it's incorporated in their schools. And then you get to read it. Then you get to hear them talking out loud and read those things to you and spend still spend those special moments with readers. And so and a tip. Or if you do have kids who are reading to you now, at this point, if you notice that they're, maybe they mispronounce a word or miscue a word or replace a word with something else. That's totally fine. I think we feel pressured that they have to learn the correct thing immediately and you and you can do that, you know, let's say they mispronounce a word. You can correct them on those pronunciation, but then move on. If you have them, OK, pronounce that again. No. Look how look how it's spelled. Try that again. If you spend too much time on it. It's going to frustrate them more and then that's just going to kind of hurt the experience of reading. So, I would help. You know, redirect them or help them know how to pronounce it correct once and then just move on. Really, just enjoy this time with reading. Cause your kids are going to pick up on it faster than you think and they learn things quicker than you realize. So don't worry if they do make mistakes.
Jen: I remember when I was little, they used to have a record. And on the other side of the record was the pages. So, you put the record on the record player and then you follow along. In the little book that they gave that well, the whole album cover but you're wiggling lots of memories of good times of reading.
Sarah: I know reading so I have so many special memories, I feel like I don't really read that much anymore, but as a kid it is so, it really does bring fond memories of that.
Hilary: You know, it's funny because I'm thinking about. So my son, he's a I mean, he's a good reader, but he isn't necessarily the child that reads for pleasure. By any means, I mean, he would choose to do lots of other things in his free time, and he's older. He's middle school. But I remember talking to his 6th grade teacher and asking her about we were having a parent teacher conference and we're discussing grades and scores and reading tests and all the things that you have to discuss at school, it's a requirement. And she was telling me she's like, you know kind of the way that I see it when it comes to reading. Is I do not care what these kids are reading as long as they are reading something. She's like, some of them are reading Harry Potter and that's great. Some of them are still reading, you know, like the comic books, like the dog Cat type books and she's like, and if that's their cup of tea. That's great too, because at this stage in life we just want them to love to read whatever that is, whatever genre that is like that's our goal as teachers when it comes to kids and reading is just to develop a love of it.
Sarah: I love that. Because it became, it can become so powerful and so beautiful. And so like.
Hilary: Yeah. And it's and I think when we, when we remind ourselves of the simplicity of that, that like it's just about it's, it's just about developing the love to read in whatever realm that looks like. I'm like that just. It helps me to ease any fears that I might have of like doing it right or wrong, just do it.
Sarah: It's easy to focus on ohh, it's increasing their literary skills. It's increasing letter recognition and shape recognition and like focus on all the I mean, I love the developmental side of everything, that's part of my job right. And I do get caught up. In that, but at the end of the day the love of it, the love of reading and the simplicity of reading, that's one of the biggest things, right?
Hilary: OK, we're almost out of time, but I know you brought with you, brought with you brought some fun facts. So let let's end with a few of those.
Sarah: OK, I've got some fun facts for you guys. Things that make you feel better if you're reading to your kids and to help continue motivate to read to your kids. So, fact #1 if a child reads for 20 minutes every day, they're exposed to about 1.8 million words of text every year. That's a lot of words. Think about it. It's like who taught you the word pouring? It was probably your parents. Maybe they're like I'm pouring your cereal. Or maybe it was in a book. You read like. The majority of the words you know in your life you probably got from reading, so reading to your kids, expose them to 1.8 million words of text every year. Not crazy, just for a couple of minutes. OK, if families read together for 20 minutes a day, seven days a week, they get more than 121 hours of bonding time every year. So, if you're like, I don't have time to hang out with my child or play with them or spend time with them. I’m work all day and then I've got a gym class and then I've got this and then that in soccer practice like parents lives. You're so busy, but having that one-on-one time with your child is so important and you can do that right before they go to bed. And think about that. That's 121 hours of bonding time just by reading to them right before bed and that's huge. And that's putting gas into their tank, putting money into their little bank account. Right, so it's so important. Talking about a bank account, this one's a fun one. If this is going to motivate If you don't read to your children. Let this motivate you, OK? So, for every year you read your child's average lifetime earnings increased by $50,000. You make a 250,000 gift to your child from birth to age 5 by reading out loud just 20 minutes. Isn't that crazy? Is your lifetime earnings increased by $50,000 on average per child? Who's read to and when they reached their adult years. So that's huge. So, if you want to set your child up for success, read to them.
Jen: Alright Well, thank you so much, Sarah, for giving us those fun facts, but also the importance of reading with our children. Not only does it create that bond, but that foundation for language and the love of reading and. I love the imaginative imagination kind of stuff that comes along with reading as well. So, thank you so much. We hope that you have enjoyed and learned some important little nuggets about how to read to your kids. We thank you and we'll see you next week. Remember to be kind and patient with yourself. We'll see you next week.
Thank you for listening to the Parents Place podcast. If you would like to reach us, you can at parents@thefamilyplaceutah.org or you can reach Jen on Facebook. Jen Daly – The Family Place. Please check out our show notes for any additional information. Our website is TheFamilyPlaceUtah.org. If you're interested in any of our upcoming virtual classes, we'd love to see you there.
Subject Resources:
1. Parents As Teachers program locator: https://parentsasteachers.org/program-locator/
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