Word People
By Julie Douglas, Family Program Specialist
Did you know that Noah Webster, the author of Webster’s Dictionary, was born two-hundred and fifty years ago on Oct 16? Now, perhaps this doesn’t strike you as a reason to bake a cake and throw confetti, but I guess I have always been kind of a “word nerd.”
The idea of a lexicographer taking nearly 30 years to gather and record words seems reason enough to celebrate. I love a good dictionary!
My love affair with words started early and has grown ever since. It still amazes me that I get paid to turn people on to words, stories, and books!
I have more than seventy associates in Missouri who love words. They are the people who train parents in our READ from the START program. They show parents how to open up a world of words for babies and toddlers. Those parents now number in the many hundreds, and they are my "associates," too! All of us are working to make this a place where every child is read to.
Speaking of good stories, look at what happens in one of these programs and after!
Often, the parents in the program begin with the wordless picture book Black on White by Tana Hoban. “The group was surprised that we actually ‘read’ a wordless book. They all seemed to have fun with the idea that they were supposed to open their minds and let their imaginations fly.”
“At the second session a few parents said that their children would just name the pictures in the book at first, but later after they ‘read’ their children this book, the kids got the idea and made up their own stories. Some of the parents also mentioned that reading a wordless book gave them the opportunity to know their children a little better.”
Goodnight Moon, penned in 1947 by Margaret Wise Brown, tends to be the favorite, especially among parents with very young children. Some parents even remember being read this book when they were small. But the classic still holds surprises!
“We began a round robin reading of Goodnight Moon. This was followed by an interesting discussion. One mom commented that she had read this story many times to her child but had never noticed the mouse moving around the room in the pictures.” Parents are often amazed at the rich details and the “story within a story” that is taking place. It is here that Discussion Leaders point out that a great picture book is a marriage of text and illustration. As one dad exclaimed, “It seems that in children’s books the pictures have just as much meaning and are just as important as the words!” Another parent told us, “I have always loved to read, but I have not taken time to appreciate illustrations or pull ideas out of a story other than the obvious. RFTS has really helped me look at reading differently.”
Participants discover that books can really be tools that they will use to build a child’s vocabulary, strengthen listening skills, and ignite imagination.
“As I passed out the books, some were upside down, backwards, or sideways. The parents adjusted them and began to flip through them. We talked about how they received their books and what they did before investigating them. Some parents had noticed and other had thought nothing of it, but we talked about how this told me they knew about books, and how we can use this to learn what our children know about books. There’s a right way to hold them, there’s a beginning and an end, a top and a bottom. I began a discussion about how children learn to read. The group suggested that they learn by lots of practice and by having stories read to them. We went on to talk about how much time it takes to acquire a skill. I suggested that reading, much like walking, begins long before we start to see ‘progress’ and that every time they are talking, singing, or reading in front of their children, they are building those beginning skills”
The READ from the START classes also talk about important themes in the stories, themes like cooperation, community, and greed.
"A Chair for My Mother by Vera Williams brought tears to one mom’s eyes. She shared the story of how her family had just brought in her mother and how they were adjusting to living as an extended family. She thought that this would be a sweet book to share with her family on how families can work together to build relationships and help each other. Another parent said, ‘This is nice to share; there was a house fire next door to our house and this book will give my children hope that things will be ok.’"
“After reading A Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats we talked about seeing the world through a child’s eyes and remembering the wonder that children have for things such as snowfall. One mom quietly commented that she had almost forgotten what it felt like to feel that wonder and she was happy to be reminded of it through reading about Peter’s adventures.”
“A lively conversation about whether the snake was greedy or not followed our reading of Mouse Count by Ellen Stoll Walsh. We ended up deciding we did not know enough about the snake’s situation to know if he was being greedy, or if it really needed to eat that many mice! It was an important reminder that we don’t always know what someone else is experiencing when we are being judgmental.”
One of the wonderful things about gathering a group of parents together is that is provides a comfortable setting for discussing parenting issues that they all face.
Gregory the Terrible Eater by Mitchell Sharmat usually inspires a discussion about nutrition. “Funny, in every program and no matter how many or how few people are in attendance, there are parents with picky eaters or overeaters.”
One of my favorite books is Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. Who hasn’t fantasized about what they would do if they were “king of all the wild things?” And few things are as joyful as a room full of parents donning their imaginary feathers, claws, and horns and unleashing their inner wild things during a “wild rumpus.” Exploring Max’s method of facing his anger and frustration provides insight to parents who have to deal with their child’s “mischievous” behavior on a daily basis.
You may imagine the parents in these anecdotes are all out of high school, but READ from the START involves teen parents, too. Many of these teens were not read to as young children so they enjoy being read to and to reading out loud in this program. You can see the pleasure on their faces and hear it in their voices. They all report that they are now reading out loud to their babies.
“This group was small but very enthusiastic! There were two dads in the group. One dad said that he could only stay for a few minutes because he had to get to work. Once we got started, he stayed and said this was worth being a little late for work! Both of the dads expressed that they were excited to read the books with their children and were happy to find this new way to connect with the kids.”
“The coordinator at a recent program held in a high school shared something wonderful that had happened after session one. One of the young men from the group was in the grocery store with his mom. A little boy of about four years old ran up and started hugging the young man’s leg. Both mothers became a little concerned; neither mom knew the other. Then the little boy started talking about ‘the great green room.’ The teen explained that he knew the child from the preschool where he was volunteering. He had read Goodnight Moon to the children a few days prior. The teen was amazed that the child had remembered him! Later when discussing the event with his teacher, he shared that maybe this reading aloud to children really changes how they see people and does change the lives of everyone around them!”
To learn more about READ from the START, find resources for reading to young children, or share an anecdote about reading, please visit www.readfromthestart.org.
(P.S. Happy birthday, Mr. Webster!)
