Family Reading Time:
Making Connections to the Story
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Introduction: And now, it’s Family Reading Time!
Narrator: Do you want your child to develop strong reading skills? We know from research that families can support children’s learning by encouraging them to actively participate in reading. One way to build conversations into book reading is to help your child relate the book to something in her own life.
Adult: Do you think you’d like broccoli stew?
Child: No.
Adult: No? Why not?
Child: I say ewww.
Adult: What would you eat for snack?
Child: Um, crackers.
Adult: Crackers.
Child: And cheese.
Adult: And cheese.
Narrator: This strategy encourages children to use a lot of language, an important pre‐literacy skill, and helps them to make connections between books and life.
Adult: Why do you think he’s feeling so mad and so upset?
Child: Because his mom isn’t coming.
Adult: No. Now have you ever gotten that upset before?
Child: Mmmm…yes.
Adult: Have you ever stomped like that?
Child: Yes.
Adult: And pouted like that?
Child: Yes.
Narrator: Family Reading Time Tip: Relate something in the story to your child’s own life.
Closing: Family Reading Time has been brought to you by the Windham Area Women & Girls Fund and the Center for Early Childhood Education at Eastern Connecticut State University.