Read with Me: Engaging Your Young Child in Active Reading

by Samantha Cleaver, Munro Richardson

Parents and early childhood teachers know that reading aloud to children is important, but the specific things that adults do while reading with children that make reading a powerful way to improve children’s language, vocabulary, and early literacy skills can remain a mystery. Read with Me makes those behaviors clear and easy to implement for parents and teachers by outlining the ABCs of Active Reading (Ask Questions, Build Vocabulary, and Connect to the Child’s World). Active Reading is an approach to reading aloud with young children that is supported by decades of research. Read With Me provides parents and teachers with the knowledge and skills to engage young children (age 2 to 5) in Active Reading with examples, clear explanations, and ideas for making one-on-one or small group read aloud sessions a powerful way to build children’s early literacy and language skills, all while creating a lifelong love of reading.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Professional Development

200 pages, Hardcover

Published November 30, 2018

Reviews

[Molly M]

This book has an important message and instructions, though I couldn't help but think "Isn't that obvious?" while reading it.

Then again, I remember my childhood vividly, and I'm young enough now(17), that these active reading techniques were a part of my own schooling experience. I grew up surrounded by discussions of phonics and put in special classes when I struggled to be asked about things that happened in a story. People becoming parents now might be just a bit too old to remember these techniques employed in their own education.

So, I would recommend this book to anyone who has children and isn't sure how to engage them in reading. If you already feel like you've got it down, you probably do. My own parents read with me in this way when I was young, and I'm fairly sure they didn't consult an instruction manual to do it. Still, Read With Me offers a good and clear explanation of why these techniques work, and was a good look back at how the brain of a toddler functions.

[Haley]

Solid book on how to read with your child. It has definitely changed how I approach bedtime reading with my own kid to include more back-and-forth dialogue.

[Frank]

Excellent book that advises the reader on what he can do to help his kids learn to read and acquire both a love of reading and a love of books. It teaches the reader the ABC method: Ask the child questions that are inspired by the book being read ("what happens next?", "how do you think this character is feeling", "how do you know they feel that way?"), Build vocabulary by explaining the meaning of words that are rarely used in everyday speech, and Connect to the child's world by asking open-ended questions that are inspired by the book being read to the child ("did anyone ever say that to you?", "how did it make you feel?").

This book highly recommends using a fill-in-the-blank method i.e. let the child finish the sentence. Of course this works after you've read the book to the child a few times, which is also recommended, that is, re-reading a book the kids love. This is especially great with rhyming books. My kids love saying the last word in a sentence of Green Eggs and Ham, and I'm using that book to show my daughter how to spell words with common endings, like house/mouse, Sam/ham, and fox/box.

The structure of this book is also very good. Each section of a chapter has a bulleted summary, so if you're rushed for time, you can read this book quickly.

[Maeve]

A guide to active reading (dialogic reading) for adults to use when reading with children. This style of reading is incredibly beneficial for children; and the authors point out these benefits and the science behind it. They also include steps to active reading, examples, and sample scripts to use.

This is a must read for any adult working with children. Some of the information seemed to little basic and a little redundant, but I think that's due to my background and knowledge I already have on the subject.

[Erin Martin]

Helpful tips on reading “with” vs. “to” your child. I dinged them a star for not providing any tips or resources to parents whose children do not respond the way the children examples in this book do - 1 out of 5 children is estimated to be dyslexic and may be able to be actively read to, but may not respond to things like saying “M-A-X.”

[Gabrielle W.]

Very important message with instructions on how to accomplish it.

[Book friends are my best friends]

Great for a parent who needs a little information on HOW to read with their child, though I’d just recommend reading through all the “what to remember” sections since it’s a tedious book to finish.

[Macy Lugo]

Active Reading: read "with" versus "to" your child.

A - Ask questions, B - Build vocabulary, and C - Connect with the child's world

[Elise]

Excellent advice for parents and teachers alike. Great book suggestions, too.