Preparing Children for School - Essay Example

The children we have in the explained scenario are suffering from an acute lack of this essential reading. Since the parents are suffering from overwhelming stress, they do not interact with the children and as a result, the children are lagging way behind the other children of their age with regards to language speaking. Moreover, the children are shy and timid and are not at ease when expressing their feelings and ideas. The condition of the children is understandable because the type of environment they are having at their home is not suitable for developing their language, communication and expressive skills.

The solution to the problem; slow growth of language and communication in the children, is by improving the way their parents interact with them. The frequency of reading to them needs to be increased however the way that reading is done is more important. Dialogic Reading is the solution to the problem faced by this family. Since the children are shy and timid, they need to interact more. Dialogic reading is better than the common method of reading because in dialogic reading the interaction level between the storyteller i.e. the parents in this case and the listener i.e. the child is very high as compared to common reading in which the child only listens. Dialogic Reading ultimately turns the child into the storyteller.

In Dialogic Reading the child not only just listens, but also starts questioning, reasoning and becomes more expressive. Since the children in this family do not interact frequently and lack the confidence to speak, Dialogic Reading can substantially increase their confidence level.

The parents need to know the importance and usefulness of dialogic reading. I would explain to them the importance of dialogic reading by convincing them to first analyze the state of their children. I would tell them that the children are shy and timid and have language delays because they are not getting sufficient time to interact. The parents can understand the importance of dialogic reading by considering the fact that reading with the children is certainly more effective than reading at them. While conducting Dialogic Reading the parents make the children ask them questions about the story and make them tell the story. This allows children to develop better observational and verbal skills. Parents should know that dialogic reading expands the knowledge of the children as they share the parents share the knowledge with the children about what the child is looking at. The most convincing thing that I can tell the parents is the fact that Dialogic Reading is having a conversation about a story with the child as opposed to just telling a story.

Moreover, parents can use the techniques of CROWD and PEER for practising dialogic reading. These two acronyms explain the methodology for the correct execution of Dialogic Reading.
Completion; Leave blanks in sentences from the story and tell the child to complete them. Recall; ask the child a question that makes him recall the series of events that occurred in the story. Open-Ended Questions; ask the child an open-ended question such as ‘tell me what happened on this page?’ W word questions; parents can ask the child some word questions such as ‘what was the colour of Mary’s dress?’ Distancing; Parents can discuss with the child something related to the story which the child has also experienced in the real-life.
PEER describes the sequence the parents can adopt for practising. Prompt the child to respond to the book. Evaluate the child’s response. Expand the child’s response by adding information to it. Repeat the child’s response along with the added information. Encouraging the Parents.

I would encourage the parents by firstly telling them the importance of Dialogic Reading for their children and discussing with them the consequences the children will face in their life if they do not develop the basic skills which are important for school learning. Moreover, the parents can be convinced by telling them that interacting more with the children and practising Dialogic Reading can actually help in curing their own high-stress levels because this can bring happiness to the whole family.