Dialogic Reading – a journey of discovery for everyone
Regular reading enhances school readiness in children. When stories are read for children every day, they develop a larger vocabulary. They also learn to read and write more easily than peers without this experience.
All parents know that children love it when they are read to. The Vorlesestudie 2021 with the title “Daycare centers as key players in promoting reading” asked 507 educational professionals from daycare centers in Germany about their experiences.
Children love stories and can hardly get enough of them
In addition to the parents‘ home, daycare centers are the most important learning environment for children up to the age of six. The researchers found that in 91 percent of the daycare centers, children receive impulses from stories at least once a day. Reading aloud is also integrated into the daily routine or it happens spontaneously, or it can be a way to calm children down. Quite often the initiative comes from the children themselves. Motivation for the kids to have their reading time was fun, but also that they wanted to be close and, of course, their thirst for knowledge.
We at globegarden see it similarly. We encourage reading wherever and whenever possible. Reading corners are standard in daycare centers, and in most places there are daycare libraries with lots of children‘s books. While reading, the children learn about strong girls as well as about boys who cry, and they learn about different cultures. Interested parents can regularly find book tips on our webpage and on the globegarden Facebook page.
Globegarden uses Dialogic Reading
We at globegarden use the technique of Dialogic Reading. Picture books are shown or stories are read aloud – always in dialogue with the children. Our staff reads to the children, asks questions, provides impulses, interrupts the story where appropriate and takes up contributions from the children. Depending on the age and group size, an exciting story can of course be read out first and afterwards the discussion will be opened.
It is less about the stories themselves than about the children developing joy in exchanging ideas, looking for arguments and it prompts the child to say something about the book. It inspires kids to enjoy reading. Research suggests that dialogic reading has the potential to improve children’s literacy and language skills.
The term Dialogic Reading was coined in 1988 by American child psychologist Grover J. White-hurst and his colleagues. In studies, they found that children who lagged behind their peers in their linguistic development could largely make up for their deficits in a very short time through this type of reading promotion.
Globegarden recommends: The next Swiss Reading Day will take place on May 18, 2022.
