The Importance of
Children's Books
Wednesday, April 04, 2018
Language development is very important in early
years – communicating using facial expressions, movement of the body, crying to
communicate to verbal and sign language.
The mind of a young child is like a sponge, they
have the ability to absorb a lot more than adults do, they are able to acquire
thousands of words and use them with adults to communicate. Using the whole
language approach listening, speaking, reading and writing lays the foundation
for language development. The first few years lay a foundation for reading
skills in later years. A print rich environment that encourages children to
practice literacy skills lays the foundation for language development. Hence,
one of the most important habits to inculcate in your child is reading. Reading
helps children visualise different scenarios, associate with different
characters; empathises with them and understand the world around.
It is important to keep inculcating habits of the
mind in children at a young age. They need to keep experiences reading about
and experiencing positive life experiences. Hence it is important that we give
emphasis on writing and publishing good children’s books.
Importance of reading –
Research shows that from as early as the first
months through the second year of life, children's experiences with oral
language development and literacy begin to build a foundation for later reading
success (Burns, Griffin, & Snow, 1999; Strickland & Morrow, 1988;
Weaver, 1988). An infant’s brain develops a ‘native language map’ between the
4th and 8th month wherein a neuron is assigned to every sound, hence talking
and reading to infant’s is very important. From 2 to 3 years of age,
children begin to produce understandable speech in response to books and the
written marks they create. From 3 through 4 years of age, children show
rapid growth in literacy. They begin to "read" their favorite books
by themselves, focusing mostly on re-enacting the story from the pictures.
Eventually, they progress from telling about each picture individually to weaving
a story from picture to picture using language that sounds like reading or
written language (Holdaway, 1979; International Reading Association &
National Association for the Education of Young Children, 1998; Sulzby, 1991).
At this time, children also experiment with writing by forming scribbles,
letter-like forms, and random strings of letters (Barclay, 1991; Clay, 1975;
Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998; McGee & Richgels, 1996). They also begin
to use "mock handwriting" (Clay, 1975) or wavy scribbles (Sulzby,
1985b) to imitate adult cursive writing. Letter-like forms or "mock
letters" (Clay, 1975) are the young child’s attempt to form alphabetic
letters; these forms of writing eventually will develop into standard letters
(Barclay, 1991). Between 2 to 6 years a child’s vision wiring matures, motor
coordination is achieved and is able to think critically. The preschooler is
now capable of a longer attention plan and rapidly develops a larger
vocabulary, hence this period is a fertile ground for introducing reading. When
using various forms of writing, children maintain their intention to create
meaning and will often "read" their printed messages using language
that sounds like reading (Clay, 1975; McGee & Richgels, 1996; Sulzby,
1985b).
Armed with this information, we now know that children need good books to refer to and learn from. Children need role models to look up to, so you need to make sure you walk the talk, introducing them to inspiring books, movies, and stories that set positive examples and help build their life story.
Armed with this information, we now know that children need good books to refer to and learn from. Children need role models to look up to, so you need to make sure you walk the talk, introducing them to inspiring books, movies, and stories that set positive examples and help build their life story.
Even though parents today are aware that they need
to be mindful when dealing with their children, yet a lot of them are lost
around how to go about building strong personalities for their children.
Therefore, we need to write great children’s books that cover relevant topics,
age appropriate content, connects to real life, that is fun and engaging and
caters to all learning styles.
Source | Afternoon | 4th April 2018
Regards
Mr. Pralhad Jadhav
Master of Library & Information Science (NET
Qualified)
Senior Manager @ Knowledge Repository
Khaitan & Co
Mobile @ 9665911593
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