POINT AND LEARN | Reading goes beyond just reciting words on a page but includes rich engagement with your child and conversation. Meaningful books should prompt questions and make connections with your child that will help boost their memory and recall. By pointing at the pictures and words, children are identifying what they see by what they are hearing. Sometimes this may involve introducing new vocabulary that
can later be used in the child’s environment to support their memory. Another way that pointing is
helpful is that it can teach early emergent reading skills that can be pointed out. For example, you can
point to the words to show that reading is done from left to right, pointing out spaces between words,
helping children point out the difference between letter formation, and much more.
One of the books I recently read, “The Foot Book” by Dr. Seuss was helpful to use pointing to make
connections with his feet. While reading, I asked questions such as “Where are your feet? How many
feet do you have? What are on your feet? How many toes do you have in all?” This prompted my son to
start counting out his toes one by one. This book also helped me point out opposites. I pointed to the
pictures to help him see how the pictures corresponded to the words. Lastly, we practiced learning his
left and right foot from each other. When reading the text about “Left foot, left foot, left foot, right.” I
pointed to his left foot and then his right to help him begin to understand the difference between the
two. Using books to guide discussion is powerful in many ways for parents as they Read and Discuss
Stories each day.
By Airreia Pierce, Author, Educator and Speaker