Cougar Curriculum Courier
October 2023
THIS NEWSLETTER TRANSLATES INTO 100 LANGUAGES
Português: Para traduzir este boletim informativo para outro idioma, clique no boletim informativo e, em seguida, clique em "Traduzir boletim informativo" à sua direita.
Español: Para traducir este boletín a otro idioma, haga clic en el boletín y luego haga clic en "Traducir boletín" a su derecha.
READING ALOUD TO YOUR CHILD (IT SHOULD BE YOUR #1 PRIORITY!)
THE BENEFITS OF READING ALOUD TO YOUR CHILD
"When we read aloud to students, we expand their imaginations, provide new knowledge, support language acquisition, build vocabulary, and promote reading as a worthwhile, enjoyable activity." (Teachervision 11/15/19)
IN UTERO AND BABIES
Depending upon the age of the child, benefits vary. But, what is most important is that at all ages there are benefits. Medical studies have shown that reading to your baby in the womb promotes brain activity (starting at 27 weeks) that will start an unborn child to develop language and early literacy skills. The more words that infants hear as you read, the better they will be able to talk. The vocabulary they hear will help to build their future vocabulary. It builds listening skills. When you read to your baby:
- Your baby hears you using many different emotions and expressive sounds. This supports social and emotional development.
- It encourages your baby to look, point, touch, and answer questions. This helps with social development and thinking skills.
- Your baby improves language skills by copying sounds, recognizing pictures, and learning words. (kidshealth.org)
THE TODDLER YEARS
Reading helps toddlers learn about speech sounds, words, language, pictures and books. Reading books to them stimulates their imagination, develops social skills and helps toddlers learn about the world around them. They start to hear how sounds combine, that they make words, and that the words they hear have meanings. (Raisingchildren.net.au) Rhyming and repetitive books are great for this age. They will learn to understand the concepts about print - reading left to right, how to hold a book, etc. Hold your child close, as reading is a great time to bond with your child. Establish a bedtime routine that includes stories, but reading to them at anytime throughout the day is great.
“Just exposure to words is the single most important thing that you can do to help build the language pathways in your child’s brain,” says Laura Phillips, PsyD, the senior director of the Learning and Development Center at the Child Mind Institute. “Reading and exposure to words helps kids maximize their language and cognitive capacity.” Even the tactile experience of holding or touching a book supports babies’ cognitive development.
“When kids are with caregivers or parents, they’re exposed to the same language, the same vocabulary words, the same patterns of speaking, which is wonderful,” says Dr. Phillips. “But books allow them to hear new vocabulary and new ways of putting words together, which expands their ability to make sense of and use language.”
IMAGINE THIS...
Researchers have tracked the impact on children whose parents read to them a minimum of five books daily from a very young age. These children entered kindergarten with exposure to around 1.4 million more words than children who were never read to. (edweek.org)
PRE-K AND KINDERGARTEN
From reading aloud at home and at school and other book work in school, your child should now understand left-to-right and top-to-bottom orientation for books and print. Your child enjoys being read to and can retell simple stories and talk about what has been learned through nonfiction texts. Your child is rhyming words, knows letter sounds and pretends to read books. He/she uses new vocabulary and uses it appropriately. The love of reading is present. This cannot all happen at school. Those children who excel in these areas have a variety of print (newspapers, magazines, books, etc.)in their homes and have been read aloud to regularly.
THE ELEMENTARY YEARS
The elementary years are the years where a child learns to read and then reads to learn. Reading Aloud continues to be an imortant at home activity. In these years it can become more interactive. Your child can take turns with you reading aloud. You can ask your child questions about the characters, the setting, the plot, etc. This helps with comprehension skills. Talk about the pictures. If there are no pictures, ask what it is your child pictures in his/her head.
The benefits of reading aloud include : (unitedthroug reading.org)
- Hear fluent reading
- Builds vocabulary
- Improves comprehension
- Promotes literacy
- Develops attention skills
- Develops memory skills
- Develops problem-solving skills.
- Develop critical thinking skills
- Develops imagination
- Provides a sense of routine and comfort
- Strengthens the bond between parent and child
It is amazing that just by reading 20 minutes or so each night, all of this can be accomplished!
☹️ Jim Trelease Read Aloud Handbook Book Group is Canceled☹️
Since only 2 people signed up for the Book Group, it has been canceled. However, because it is such an important book, over the next few months I will be writing about the chapters in a special newsletter.
Kelly Costa Sardella, Principal
Michelle Monteiro, Administrative Assistant
Email: kcsardella@hudson.k12.ma.us
Website: https://jlmulready.hudson.k12.ma.us/
Location: 306 Cox Street, Hudson, MA, USA
Phone: 978-567-6170
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jlmulready
Twitter: @mulprincipal
SCHOOL WEBSITES: (If link does not work, copy and paste it into the address bar.)
Mr. Glines’s Class weather website: http://mrglines.weebly.com/
Mrs. Colarullo’s website: https://hudsonlab.weebly.com
Mrs. Buscemi’s Math website: https://mulready.wixsite.com/hudsonmathfacts
Ms. Steinhaus’s music website: https://sites.google.com/a/student.hudson.k12.ma.us/mulready-music/
Mrs. Westberg’s Art site: https://mulreadyart.weebly.com/
The technology department website for the 1:1 program is: https://hudson.k12.ma.us/cms/one.aspx?pageId=22441536 There is also a link there for tutorials.
Mrs. Hughes’s School Psychology site: https://sites.google.com/a/student.hudson.k12.ma.us/hps-school-psychologists/kristina-hughes-mulready?authuser=0