Turn Black Friday into Book Friday

By substituting a few letters, you can turn Black Friday into Book Friday!

As you start your holiday shopping, consider buying books for everyone on your list. Personal, thoughtful, portable, and relatively inexpensive, books are a perfect and personal gift for young and old.

Is your three-year old obsessed with soccer? Feed that obsession! Is your mother-in-law an avid gardener or a marathon runner?  Is your father a creative cook? There will be books to provide inspiration. Browse the shelves or the pages of your favorite online retailer.

And maybe gift yourself while you are at it. Happy shopping! Happy reading!

Read as I Read

A new study confirms the importance of the role that modeling reading behavior plays in raising readers. ". . . Parents who read more for pleasure read more often to their kids, and that both of these parental behaviors were also related to their children’s literacy skills."

Read all about the study here. 

http://www.edcentral.org/study-links-parents-reading-practices-to-childrens-literacy-skills/#sthash.IdKvMKMX.dpuf

And most important, keep reading with your young child--and for yourself!

What Happens Tomorrow?

Here is a way to help your preschooler build on her comprehension skills  . . . and use her imagination.

After you and your child finish reading a story together, close the book, and ask, "What do you think happens next?" or "What happens the next day?"

This kind of thinking helps your child in a few ways. It encourages your child to use what she already knows about a character or a situation and run with it—to spin some educated guesses based on that information. That is also called making inferences, a skill she will use in school and in life. But for now, unburdened by finding right answers, she is simply stretching her imagination, and engaging in some storytelling of her own.

Get Festive: Read All About It

Before the holidays—whether it is Thanksgiving, Chanukah, Christmas, or Kwanzaa—pick up some books about the upcoming event. Read about the holiday with your preschooler. The experience will add to the excitement and anticipation for the celebration. Plus  your child will learn to appreciate the meaning of special days and maybe even understand the reasons behind the holiday. Reading about how different families celebrate holidays also gives you a chance to compare your family traditions with those of others. It can also be fun to learn about totally different holidays—ones you don’t observe. Find out about holidays that are celebrated around the world and open your child’s eyes to other cultures and traditions. Many libraries and bookstores have special displays as the holidays draw closer so it is easy to find books to enjoy.