A recent poll on Nanny Magazine‘s Facebook Page revealed that many nannies read to their children everyday and sometimes even 4 TIMES a day! One thing is clear Nannies are reading to the children in their care, but how can we add new skills to make reading more fun and a true time for learning? In This week’s podcast, in our last podcast of the year, we spoke with Cathy Day who is dual certified in reading and elementary education about the read aloud. The book for today is a favorite for both Cathy and myself: the Polar Express!
In the podcast, Cathy led us in a discussion about reading tips to add to a nanny’s tool belt. Lastly Cathy stated (and we love this!), “Read everyday and instill that true love of reading in the little ones.”
What are the biggest misconceptions about raising readers?
4:15 Reading is so much more than finding and reading words on a page. Children should slow down and not just be word callers. Find out how Cathy describes a word caller.
5:50 What does Cathy mean when she says: every child has a developmental yardstick?
What are ways to bring up readers? How do nannies help develop out that yardstick?
6:35 Cathy talks about ways to motivate children and allow them to expand on their natural curiosity of the world around them through reading. She offers ideas of how nannies can do just that.
7:45 Cathy explains how literacy routines can make reading an enjoyable everyday activity. She tells a story of her friend’s daughter as an example.
How do nursery rhymes help facilitate the whole literacy process?
13:08 How can you involve children in rhyming with you as you read nursery rhymes?
14:45 Cathy shares her excitement about phonological awareness. She explains what it is and how nannies can practice it through games with the children.
Tell us about read alouds.
18:13 Cathy shared a quote from an article, “Research has demonstrated that the most effective read alouds are those where children are actively involved asking and answering questions and making predictions rather than passively listening.” What can nannies do to scaffold learning?
20:55 Close reading is when you help children understand what is happening on the page and hold an engaging conversation.
Polar Express Read Aloud with suggestions from Cathy.
24:50 Tell the children the title and ask them about the cover of the book. Can a child make a prediction about the book
27:00 Talk about vocabulary on the page that first shows the steam engine. There are great descriptive words. “What do you think that means?”
28:00 Ask questions about emotion. Feelings aren’t always clearly stated, so ask them, “Look at the faces on the train. Are they happy? How would you feel if you were on the train?”
29:28 Play on words: The hot cocoa was described as thick. Help the children understand the context of words.
31:37 Talk about the peaks and valleys in the mountains. Build concepts that they can relate to later on in school, even in fiction books.
33:30 Ask questions that will allow children to make connections to their own lives.
What are your thoughts on iPads and some of the technology out there?
34:48 Personally Cathy likes to cozy up with a real book. However, in classrooms today there are e-readers. There are great apps for phonological awareness. Pioneer Valley has some free books for ipads. Starfall.com is a great early literacy website that Cathy recommends as well.
36:29 Cathy tells us you don’t have to spend a lot of money to get children excited about learning. She shares a few more games we can play with children to promote reading.
Cathy Day is an Early Intervention Reading Specialist at the Byam School. Prior to joining the Byam community, she was a certified Reading Recovery Teacher and a Grade 2 classroom teacher. Mrs. Day is a member of the adjunct faculty team at Southern New Hampshire University. There, she is able to share her literacy knowledge and experiences with future educators. Mrs. Day earned her masters degree in Reading from Rivier College. In Cathy’s words, “the reward is great when she is able to see her Kindergarten and First Grade students build a strong literacy foundation which is so important for future success.”