We all know that reading to children is crucial to the development of future literacy skills. That is why our teachers read to their classes every day, multiple times throughout the day. The experience children receive from interacting with books on their own and with peers is important to their growth as readers. Research shows the more contact children have with age-appropriate books, the better readers they will be. We make sure that there is a comfortable and quiet area in each of our classrooms to look at and interact with books. Our classroom book areas are stocked with different types of books, including fiction and non-fiction genres and depicting a variety of cultures. The books are rotated often so that our children not only have time to explore their favorites but also, on their own, gain important book knowledge (for example, that we read from right to left, and from the top of the page to the bottom). We also extend book and reading experiences with storytelling that includes props, music, dance, and drama, and we support our budding storytellers by writing down their stories. Reading books is a big part of our day here in Preschool.
If you are interested, please look through the Scholastic Book Club flyers sent home by your child’s classroom teacher(s) and select books that interest your child. If you purchase books through the book club(s), teachers can use accrued points to redeem books for their classrooms.