Edu-Blog

Welcome to the Lighthouse Primary Library!  

We aim to develop a lifelong love of books and reading in children.  

You may have noticed that your children are bringing home two self-chosen books from the library each week:  one in English and one in French.  Let’s examine some ways that you can engage with these books at home and some of the ways reading with your children in any language will benefit them now and for their entire lives.

WHO SHOULD READ THE BOOKS, MY CHILD OR ME?

Sometimes your child will choose a library book that they can read on their own  - not to be confused with their Oxford Tree book that their classroom teacher assigns that is at their reading level, in which case they can read it on their own, or they can read it to you.  When they can read a book independently, we encourage them to read it to mom, then to dad, again to grandparents, and even again to siblings, because rereading the same text repetitively builds reading fluency, the speed at which they can read words accurately.  

However, especially if your child is still learning to read, some of the books they bring home will be too difficult for them to read on their own, whether in English or French.  Some children have learned the Five-Finger Rule to use when choosing a book, which teaches them to read one page of the book they want to borrow and count the number of words they do not know yet.  If they count five words they do not know, it means this book is too difficult to read on their own, but it could be appropriate for someone to read to them. 

In this case, please take a relaxed time to read the book your child has chosen.  It can be very meaningful to them that you take the time to read them a book they are not able to read on their own but that interests them, and if it is a positive experience, they are sure to want to read with you again.  During or after the read-aloud, you can take time to talk about how the themes of the book relate to their own lives.  For example, a book about friendship can lead to your child opening up about their relationships with their own friends, or a story about a child who overcomes a difficulty can lead to you each sharing about a time when you overcame something similar and how you each handled it.  Books can become springboards for valuable conversations that help children navigate their lives, and these are precious opportunities for parents to share with their children.  In fact, the power of reading aloud to your child is not in the vocalisation of the words, but rather in the talk surrounding the story or information, as it serves as a bridge to making sense of their own life experiences.

Please be aware that forcing a child to read a book to you that is too difficult for them can lead to frustration and feeling unsuccessful as a reader, which is deflating and demotivating to budding readers.  It is much more effective for you both to have a positive experience of your reading aloud the story to them and enjoying the story than to have your child painfully slog through a book that is beyond their current reading ability.

WHAT IF NO ONE IN OUR FAMILY READS FRENCH?

Yes, this may be frustrating when your child brings a French book home and you both feel stuck not knowing how to decipher the words to understand the story.  We want to instil the habit of bringing home a book in both languages from a young age so they will understand that we value both languages.  As the children grow in their French ability, they will begin decoding the words.  In the meantime, did you know that you can look at any picture book together and talk about the illustrations and story even in your native language?  Research shows that the development of one’s home language helps the learning of additional languages because it increases vocabulary and knowledge about various topics that provide a foundation for other languages to build upon. 

How about sitting down with your child’s English or French book and turning the pages together, naming things in the pictures in your family’s language, making up the story on your own based on the pictures, and talking about how it relates to his or her own life?

In this way, you and your child can still enjoy looking at the book together without the pressure of having to read the French words on the page. At the same time, as your child becomes more adept at French, he or she may be curious enough to sound out the French words they see and gradually grow into reading French. This is why the habit of bringing home a book in French has value even at the early stage of learning French. As our library collection develops, we hope to acquire more books for beginning French learners that will be easier to read.

Look forward to more tips to come about reading with your child in a future newsletter!

If you have any questions, helpful ideas, or need support in your child’s reading journey, please reach out to us at library@lighthouse.edu.mu or contact your child’s class teacher.

Happy reading together, Lighthouse families!