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Samantha
Katz
Child Psychologist
WJCS Parent Child Home Program
Monthly
Column
(October
2005)
Fathers Matter!
Gone are the days when children grew up with stay-at-home
mothers and only fathers went to work. With today’s blurring
of gender roles, fathers, like mothers, are important guides
in their children’s growth, especially early literacy
development. Before children learn to read, they must
develop verbal, print, phonetic and vocabulary skills.
Success in these areas requires significant parental
involvement.
Typically language develops through
speaking with parents and other adults. Researchers have
begun uncovering the critical role fathers play in promoting
their children’s social-emotional health and school
success. By reading and speaking with one’s children and
modeling early literacy behaviors, fathers can make lasting
positive impacts on their children’s early literacy
development.
Fathers and mothers read differently with
their children. Fathers tend to be more interactive,
engaging their children in conversation about the stories.
This is especially important as richer discussions about the
content of books can increase children’s verbal skills. The
more a parent encourages a child to speak while reading, the
more practice with verbal expression a child has. Fathers
may particularly enjoy the dramatic facets of shared book
reading, such as changing their voices to match different
characters. Such a lively reading grabs a child’s attention
injecting excitement into reading.
Fathers also can impact their children’s
literacy development just through talking. When playing
catch, fathers can describe the ball going back and forth,
and when shopping for groceries, fathers can speak about the
different types of foods on the shelves. Dinner provides a
convenient time for conversations. Fathers can describe
their day focusing on events that might be significant or
humorous for a child. In addition, fathers can ask their
children about their own days. As children develop language,
they enjoy speaking about themselves. By encouraging these
discussions, fathers not only positively impact their
children’s ability to express themselves, they also boost
their children’s self-esteem.
Children like to imitate their parents. When
a father picks up a newspaper, magazine, pamphlet or book,
children observe and view these activities as important and
may spend more time engaged in literacy-based
activities
Family
structure issues, such as a child living with a mother and
visiting with a father may impact a father’s participation
in early literacy activities. To increase a father’s
involvement, several different approaches can be attempted.
Mothers can play an important role here, filling in the
fathers on events that children enjoy. Doing so can inform
the fathers of potentially fruitful conversational topics.
In addition, fathers can audio/videotape themselves reading
stories so children can play these tapes when away from
their fathers.
Although, on average, mothers continue to
spend more time with their children, fathers have been
dedicating increasingly more time to childrearing. Taking
the time to read and speak with their children, fathers can
promote early literacy development. They also can
demonstrate that they value these activities. This will
increase the likelihood that as children grow, they continue
to enjoy and appreciate the importance of literacy-based
activities.
January 2010
Early
childhood matters!
Children's Play: What's all the fuss about?
Did you know that 90% of a child’s
brain is fully developed by the time he or she is five years
old? And did you know that this development is difficult to
alter later in life?
From building with blocks to coloring with crayons and
feeding dolls, youngsters often spend the bulk of their day
busy at play. Not only does play provide children with joy,
it also is an important opportunity for early learning. By
sharing in play, parents can enhance their children’s
language development, cultivate their self-esteem and
inspire creativity. It also benefits health — yes, health —
both physical and mental
Playtime is a natural setting for parents and children to
talk with each other. “Expansions,” in which parents repeat
children’s remarks adding something new, are particularly
effective at enhancing language development. For example, if
a child says, “That’s a ball” the parent can reply, “Yes,
that’s a shiny, blue ball.” Asking open-ended questions,
like “What foods should we bring to our tea party?” and
“Where is your car driving?”, elicit rich verbal
responses. Singing, something children of all ages love to
do with their parents, is a form of play based entirely in
language. Infants and toddlers particularly love song-game
combinations like “Where is Thumbkin” and “Open Shut Them.”
Parents can make specific comments to build their children’s
self esteem. Remarks such as, “Wow, you’re adding a lot of
colorful details to your picture,” which praise a child’s
efforts make a child feel appreciated. Parents also can ask
specific questions about their child’s likes and dislikes
while interacting. Referring back to the child’s opinions,
parents make their children feel important. For example,
when playing with toy animals, parents can ask about their
child’s favorite animals. If the child likes penguins, the
parent can suggest that they waddle like penguins. By doing
this, the parent conveys that the child’s opinions are
worthy.
Pretend play — acting out familiar activities — especially
promotes both children’s creativity and verbal skills.
Beginning at about 18 months children can engage in simple
make-believe activities pretending to talk on a phone or
feed a stuffed animal. Older children often love to play
“house” or “school,” activities that are familiar to them.
As they negotiate what to act out and actually dramatize
their activities, they produce a lot of spontaneous
language. Studies suggest this activity may build and
support their social skills and confidence. Parents can
encourage such play at home, by suggesting that they pretend
to take care of “baby,” prepare for a picnic or shop at the
grocery store.
Language-based play is an ideal down time activity. When
waiting at the doctor’s or taking a long car ride, word
games like taking turns listing the real and made-up words
that rhyme (cap, sap, tap, pap, lap…) are fun and help
develop children’s understanding of the structure of
language. Games like “I Spy,” in which players take turns
guessing an object that the other person is describing are
also highly enjoyable.
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