With the Thanksgiving season at hand, our thoughts naturally turn toward gratitude. No matter our current circumstances we all have something for which to be grateful. In fact, we often take our most precious gifts for granted. For instance, have you ever considered the advantages that being literate affords? Red Apple Reading would like to take time this holiday season to remind our friends what a privilege it is to read!
A robust vocabulary is a vital part of literacy. While a child may be able to read a word, it doesn’t necessarily mean she understands the meaning of the word. Reading is an important life skill and kids will only reap the full benefits if they understand the text. A large vocabulary improves a child’s reading comprehension. So what can you do to help build a child’s vocabulary? Red Apple Reading has a few suggestions.
If you have a toddler at home, you may not have thought much about teaching her to read. Most parents of toddlers would be thrilled if their little one would just learn to keep their food on their plate! While most toddlers have several years before they begin to read fluently, there are some activities you can begin now in order to build a strong reading foundation. And trust us, your child will be in much better shape when starting school if you have already taken the time to do these things!
Join us as we celebrate poets and their amazing work for Poet’s Day (August 21st)! This is also a good time to reflect on the benefits of poetry for children, some children’s poets we can introduce them to, and explore ways we can encourage them to create their own poetry!
When was the last time you or your children visited the library? Devoted patrons sing the praises of their local libraries, but others don’t really see the point of visiting this public institution any longer. In fact, with the rise of the digital age, many people are wondering if libraries are a dying establishment. We believe there are several reasons local public libraries are still a valuable resource to the public. Red Apple Reading would like to offer a few reasons why visiting your local library is still a good idea!
As parents we are constantly battling the clock. There just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to get everything done. Our lives are full and it seems like we never check everything off of our to do list. So you may think adding one more item to your already busy schedule is unrealistic. Red Apple Reading would like to offer 8 compelling reasons why you should be reading aloud to your child daily (yes, even if they are already reading independently!).
Once again the school year has flown by and summer is upon us. The break from school often creates mixed feelings for parents. You may be thrilled for your kids to have some down time but not relish the fight against television, video games, and social media. For me, summer reading has always been an important key to adding some loose structure to the break. However, reading can create mixed feelings in our kiddos: some are good, some are bad, and some are just plain ugly! Summer reading is important and can be enjoyable if you present it the right way to your children. If you’re looking for some fun ways to implement reading into your kid’s summer break, Red Apple Reading invites you to try some of the following suggestions!
It seems like anyone can call themselves a children’s book author these days as the comedian and The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon has a publishing deal for his second book. Although his first book, titled Your Baby’s First Words Will Be DADA, received better reviews than most people expected, Read more…
Comprehension is the ability to not only read words, but understand their individual meanings and their meanings within the context of a sentence and story. Your child may be able to demonstrate an understanding of phonics and phonemic awareness, read basic sentences fluently, identify many written words by sight, and still not understand what she is reading. That’s why comprehension in and of itself is an important component of reading instruction.
If you are wondering how you can help improve a child’s reading comprehension, then check out the following tips from Red Apple Reading!
Learning to read fluently is another key element in the reading process. In order for your kiddo to truly comprehend and enjoy what he’s reading, he needs to acquire fluency—the ability to read words and sentences accurately, at a reasonably quick pace, without the need to stop and decode individual words. Your child’s comprehension and enjoyment of a story will increase once she achieves reading fluency. Here are some ways Red Apple Reading recommends to model fluent reading for your child.