We need to teach our children to love reading again

How do children read? The first steps are understanding the sounds in spoken words and how the letters in print relate to these different sounds.

For the past couple of years our parent company, the Albuquerque Journal, has been working to help increase literacy rates in their community but in communities throughout the state of New Mexico too.

We should be concerned about New Mexico’s children who have fallen behind in reading. As a matter of fact, the reading proficiency in New Mexico is only 38 percent according to the New Mexico’s Public Education Department statistics announced in May 2024.

So how can parents, grandparents and members of the community help our children? The answer may be simpler than you think.

We can do this by talking to and reading with our children – right from birth!

Start with one or two of the following ideas, then add more when you feel comfortable. Here’s a few ideas given to me by my college roommate who was a reading specialist in an elementary school for more than 35 years.

When communicating with your child, grandchild or niece or nephew, try some of these recommended ideas:

• Copy the sounds your child makes.

• Sing to your child.

• Play rhyming games.

• Share stories – tell stories from your own childhood.

• Talk about everyday things you are seeing and doing together; for example, “Look at the blue bird! It’s called a blue jay!

• Emphasize different letters when saying a word: for example, “Here’s your t-t-truck.”

• Talk about emotions; for example, “Petting our dog Spot makes you happy!”

• Listen to your child and follow their lead. If you child asks, “What’s on the next page?” say, “What do you think will be on the next page?”

When reading with your child:

• Point to the letter or word while saying it.

• Encourage your child to hold the book and turn pages.

• Ask questions about the book such as, “Why did the bear eat so much honey?”

• Read your child’s favorite book over and over again.

• Ask your child to follow along with their finger while you read each word.

• Point to the pictures and talk about them.

•Make the sounds of the animals or objects in the book.

• Explain words they might now know.

Most importantly, make reading enjoyable. Make it something to look forward to. Reading together can become a special time for both of you.

We need to make our school children ready readers.

I had a wonderful fourth grade teacher named Mrs. Wilson.

Every day after noon recess, she would read a chapter from one of her favorite books, like “Charlotte’s Web.”

She MADE us to visit the school library and pick out a book to read over the course of the next week. If we couldn’t find one, she’d pick one out for us.

“There is no friend as loyal as a book,” she’d remind us. “And don’t ever give up on reading.”

Plus we all received the Weekly Reader. Remember that glorious piece of reading material?

Thanks to Mrs. Wilson, I love to read.

Heck, I’m a bit of a read-a-holic. Instead of watching television, I like to cuddle in my reading chair and read a good book or one of the more than 17 newspapers that are delivered to me in the mail or in my email inbox every morning.

Reading has always been a part of my life.

And as Dr. Seuss reminds us, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you’ll go.”