How to Read a Book to a Child. Hint: Kids Aren’t Stupid.

 

Grandpa Haley reads to Ambrose

I honestly don’t remember which of our eight kids this applies to, but some of them called Eric’s sister “Aunt Lambie.”  Somehow, they associated Elaine’s nickname, Lainey, with Chris’s toy stuffed lamb that “talked.”  The lamb, of course, with some kind of record in it that was operated by turning a key, could not move its mouth, so when it prayed “Now I lay me down to sleep,” it was perhaps easy to mistake that for “Now I lambie,” especially since “lay me” is a rather archaic usage.

Not being able to see a mouth move and read lips has a sad modern equivalent.  There is a generation now that was so affected by children’s mask mandates during Covid that they’ve never seen human mouths forming sounds and they cannot understand the basic skill of speaking clearly and enunciating their words. Thus, these small children are far behind in their language development and may never catch up properly. This was child abuse, and in some cases, it is still going on.

The following cool picture in one of the books we have been asked to restore caught my attention the other day, particularly the caption:  

“A delicate instrument used for detecting mine operation called the microphone

 is being used by this French officer of the engineering corps.

This will detect the faintest sounds.”

When the nations were at war in 1918, there was no capability of calling home with a mobile phone.  But clear communication -- such as with this new instrument of war, the microphone -- was important to the cause.  Equally important is clear communication in the education of our next generation.

Recently Joe Biden complained that “they won’t let me” read any of the stories to the children at the White House Easter Egg event.  It’s hard to know exactly what “they” had in mind when they made that determination, but Biden is honestly not even really good at reading the teleprompter after “they” set it up for him.  So that was probably a good judgment call.  There are many ways to mess up a children’s story.

Copyright 2007-2021 by The Comic Irregulars

So how do you read a book to a child?  Here’s a hint:  Don’t only read the printed words.  It takes interaction to be meaningful.  Make absolutely certain that they understand.  If all you do is point to pictures on the page and voice the nouns that name those pictures for the eager child, you have communicated.  

So here are some good examples:

Eric’s brother’s daughter Carrie posted on Facebook recently that she liked to keep her kids’ attention by reading to them in a high squeaky voice and had done so during the bedtime story the night before.  This was funny so they loved it, and then she said she had to make a split second decision at the end.  Should she continue to do the familiar prayer in the same voice or would that be disrespectful?  She decided to go for it and had good results.  Plus, all her Facebook friends thought she did a good job as a mommy.  High five!

And our Israeli friend Ayelet showed us how to read an English book to a child in Hebrew.  It was fascinating to watch her speak, as her brain processed those English words and automatically interpreted them and verbalized them as Hebrew sentences that a child could understand.  Since I’m not really bilingual, I can only gasp in awe at that skill.

Now here’s my bad example.  Sadly, it was me!

When I was a child, I picked up reading quickly, probably because that was something I could see.  Being horribly nearsighted, picture books were my friendly companions, and sounding out the secret code on the page was a rewarding activity.  But then later on, by the time I was in fifth grade, oral reading with the class bored me.  I could already read the words.  So everyone had their turn, and when it was mine, I whipped through the words so fast everyone’s head would spin.  Did I understand the sentences I had just sprayed everyone with?  Not necessarily.  But I thought it entertaining at the time to leave people so far behind that the next person lost their place.  (Forgive me, Jesus!)

Looking back, I know what the teacher should have done, rather than letting me continue my cruel game.  My attention should have been directed to making my oral reading meaningful and artistic.  This also takes an ability to “read ahead” in one’s mind, before the tongue gets there, so it would have decreased my boredom. What good does oral reading do if it causes both you and your listener to drift off?  

Good oral reading can encompass varying dialect, volume, and speed, adding emotion and intensity, or even some meaningful pauses.  Conversations are lovely.  One could talk in a somewhat normal voice for one character and in a high squeaky voice for another.  Four or five characters can be a real challenge as you quickly search your mental costume closet for appropriate but unique voices.  Bringing new characters into the story keeps your mind alert. Not to mention that “voice actors” can make a lucrative income providing dialog for cartoons.  But, you have to slow down.  Don’t do as I did when I was in fifth grade.

For all my kids, I believe, my Bible curriculum was my Egermeijer’s Bible Story book.  It was a very old book I picked up from Eric’s antiques store and it got even older after several small children so that I even had to order a “new” old copy towards the end.  The good thing about the book is that there were a lot of Bible stories in it, not just the “main” ones, like David and Goliath and the Crucifixion, and the relating of each of them was fairly thorough.  But any of them had the potential of leaving a small child in the dust.  

So, as our kids’ primary teacher, it was up to me to be aware of when the words used would not be or might not be understood by the youngest child present.  Then I would stop after each sentence to explain the meaning.  I might need to ask probing questions to get them started, such as “Do you know what a serpent is? How would you feel if a serpent started talking to you? Would you be scared?”  Sometimes I didn’t even read the words on the page at all, but read ahead and changed them, for understanding.

But always, I would make sure to differentiate between stories that Jesus told that were only stories, such as the Sower and the Seed, and the stories of real people -- biographies like Ruth, Esther, or Joshua.  

Never lie to a child. They must know what is real and what is not real.  We must not blur the lines.  These Bible people are real examples of people who walked the earth before us, heroes of the faith that we can try to be like. Even Samson, with all his failings, is mentioned in Hebrews 11 as a good example of faith.  So read, and teach them well!

“Dear Father, Holy and True, You have given some of us children to teach in Your ways.  Let us also be devoted to the Truth, and never break faith with our kids so that they mistrust our word.  We want this to be true in our lives:

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. ~3 John 1:4

For it is in Jesus’ Name that we pray, Amen.”