Parents Make the Difference

Nourishing Literacy Development through Shared Book Reading

By (author) Susan Voorhees

Publication date:

14 May 2014

Length of book:

130 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9781475803211

Reading to your children has been recommended to parents of young children for decades by literacy experts. The act of shared book reading can promote academic, language, and literacy development; this is grounded in research. Not all shared book reading, however, is equally effective. In Parents Make the Difference: Nourishing Literacy Development through Shared book Reading, Susan Voorhees guides parents to conduct enjoyable and productive book reading interactions with their young children. Parents will be informed about language and literacy learning in the early years and how to best engage in before, during, and after shared book reading activities. While this book was written as an invitation to parents, teachers will also find it to be informative in guiding them to establish a supportive climate for sound, developmentally appropriate literacy teaching practices. It is the responsibility of all shareholders to nourish the literacy development of young children as they naturally move toward learning to read and become lovers of reading.

Preface
Acknowledgments
An Introduction to a Workshop: It’s the Parents Who Make the Difference!
Part One: Building Parents’ Knowledge about Language, Learning, and Reading

Children Learning Their First Words Is NOT Magic
Teaching Children to Read Is as Natural as Learning to Ride a Bike
Can Our Brains Really Attend to Two Tasks at the Same Time?

Part Two: Parents as Mediators: Making Effective Instructional Decisions

If She Doesn’t Like Carrots, Then Don’t Keep Feeding Them to Her!
A Recipe for Shared Book Reading Ensures a Delicious Outcome
PREP Is the First Step!
ENGAGE: Be a Lore, Not a Bore!
CONCLUDE: Don’t Just Go to Sleep—Savor the Moment!

Final Thoughts

From the Womb to the Kindergarten Classroom!

Appendix A: A Wondrous World in My Head
Appendix B: Favorite Shared Book Reading List to Support Your Children’s Literacy
References

Dr. Voorhees’ book, Parents make the difference, shared book reading, gives credence to parents as prime teachers. Parents will welcome her gentle yet professional approach to the process of language and reading as one of the greatest gifts they can give to their children — a lifelong love of language and reading. As an early childhood specialist (and grandmother) I delight in sharing this book with educators in the field not only as teachers but as collaborative partners with the parents of their students.