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Senior White House Adviser David Axelrod (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Summertime offers a break from school, but that doesn’t mean learning has to take a vacation. Summer days offer many opportunities for literacy adventures with your multiples.
According to researcher Karen Thorpe, “scientific studies have consistently reported that…twin children have higher rates of language delay when compared with single-born children.” Since language development helps form the foundation for literacy, multiples sometimes are a step behind some of their peers in the process of learning to read. Of course, a lag does not always occur. Some multiples are right on target or running ahead in the process of becoming a reader. Wherever a child is in the process, parents are an essential link.
The National Reading Panel actually pinpoints five areas that are important in the development of good readers. Those areas are:
• Phonemic awareness,
• Phonics,
• Fluency,
• Comprehension, and
• Vocabulary
Looking for some fun ideas for summertime literacy adventures that span these areas of reading? Try one or more of the following.
1. Play with language orally.
• Recite nursery rhymes.
• Develop rhyming games. Say a word, like "ham," then see how many words your multiples can rhyme with that word. The words can even be "nonsense" words like "fam.”
• Try breaking words apart. This can involve several options: word parts, initial sounds, end sounds, and middle sounds. For example, if the word is "cupcake" and we take away the "cup", what word is left? Or if the word is "rice" and we take off the "r", what is left?
Each of these activities can be fun as a group activity (as in "everyone all together"), but also remember that with multiples it is important to find opportunities for each child to talk by himself or herself.
2. Utilize Environmental print.
Environmental print is the print of every day life, such as street signs, billboards, store names and logos.
• Examples of several environmental print logos can be downloaded here. Encourage your multiples to recognize the labels, to identify the letters in the name or logo, and to sort by beginning sounds, by number of syllables, or by categories. Multiples who have finished first or second grade can also put the words in ABC order.
• As multiples grow in their reading skills, consider using cereal and other food boxes, and newspaper and magazine ads for environmental print activities.
3. Have fun with how-to projects.
Completing how-to projects with your multiples can sharpen sequencing skills. But instead of just “doing” the how-to project, add talking into the mix. In that way, the adventure also becomes a vocabulary building activity. The project can be as simple as making a peanut butter sandwich. First, describe each step in the process as you make your sandwich. Remember to be specific. (Get the bread out of the cabinet, get the peanut butter out of the cabinet...)Then, ask your multiples -- each having his or her own turn -- to list the steps as you make their sandwiches.
4. Read to and with your child.
The National Children’s Reading Foundation says reading to a child is the “most important 20 minutes of every day,” and that it provides your child with a quarter million dollar gift. Researchers say it’s the single best way to increase vocabulary. So head to the nearest public library and load up on books. Garage sales can also be great treasure troves for acquiring children's books -- at a reasonable price. For some added fun, select books that have multiples as main characters! Read a mix of fiction and non-fiction, and as you read, discuss interesting words, and ask questions about what’s happening in the book.
For further ideas, the Kansas Parent Information Resource Center provides a free downloadable booklet on “How To Help Your Child Become A Better Reader.” One of the items the booklet includes is a list of ideas on “what to do if” your child… “doesn’t want to read, says the book is too easy,…or comes to an unknown word and stops.”
For more info: Communication development: Kindergarten through fifth grade, Language development in twins, triplets, and higher order multiples, 8 ways parents can promote reading at home
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