Reading Beyond the Text

Reading: it's about much more than the words on the page!

Children's books are a rich source of new vocabulary and language learning opportunities that only begins with the written text. So here's my suggestion: when you read to your child, read BEYOND the text. Reading beyond the text means talking about the pictures, asking questions, making predictions, relating the events to your own experiences, remembering sequences, finding patterns, pointing out your favourite things, calling attention to the text itself, and talking about how books work (which way is up, which direction you move, how many pages to turn, etc). You can honestly have an entire conversation just based on a single page!

Depending on your child's age and language level, this may mean pointing to the pictures and saying one or two words at a time ("ball!" or "blue car!") or it may mean having more extensive, logical conversations with your child where you ask those more abstract, thinking questions ("where do you think she will sail her boat?" or "why did the kids all put on monster costumes?").

So instead of being a book reader, try out being a book explorer - there is so much to talk about and so much to learn!