Single dad

A special type of question are prediction questions that ask children to make an informed guess about what will happen next in a story. Prediction questions develop children's logical thinking skills. The key is this: Do not only ask for a prediction, also ask for the reasoning behind the prediction. The principle we must bear in mind is: the quality of a prediction is determined not by what actually happens next in the book but by the quality of the reasoning behind the prediction.

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Remember that 'Reading aloud is a journey, not a race'. To make this journey longer, more valuable and more enjoyable, we adults should not be the only ones talking just because we are the only ones reading aloud. The key point is: Being active can increase children's understanding, enjoyment and learning.

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Dads should ask lots of questions, but stay away from too many teacher-type questions that make read aloud time into a test.

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Once the book is written and the illustrations are done, dads need to publish the book so that it can go on the shelf along with the other books in children's home library. Perhaps, children can even have a special place on the shelf for the books they wrote themselves.

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Many dads may wonder how children can write their own books, when even very few adults write books. There are several ways to make this task easy. The first trick is to use books that dads have already read to the children and to use these books as models. They are not selling these books; they are just for their own use. Therefore, there are no copyright worries.

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When dads read aloud to them, children are learning many different things. They are learning about the world, they are learning to love books and reading, and they are learning about language. This learning about language occurs mainly as children hear, see and understand the language as it is used. This is a kind of subconscious learning that takes place naturally. Dads do not need to do anything special. They just have a good time on the read aloud journey that we and the children have embarked on.

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As children's reading ability improves, they may want to read aloud with us, starting off with just saying a word or two that they recognize. Even children who cannot read at all can sometimes read along, either because you have read them the book so many times that they have memorized many of the sentences or because in a predictable book, certain phrases or sentences are repeated many times.

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The key point is: Dads should not just turn to Page 1 and jump in. They should set the mood first.

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The key point is: If dads practice first before reading aloud to children, they can do a better job. Because their goal is to convince children to love reading, just like sellers need to know their products well in order to convince customers to buy them, they need to know the books they will read well in order to convince children of the joys of reading. So, if possible, dads should practice first.

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One phrase to keep in mind is "Follow in order to lead." In other words, dads need to observe and listen to children in order to better lead them to enjoy reading. One way to follow children in order to lead them is to involve them in choosing the books that you read to them. A good starting place is to consider what books the child has enjoyed in the past. Some children, such as Wan Inn's two oldest children Joanne and Julian, would read anything that they could lay their hands on, and any place was a good place to read - from the bedroom to the restroom - with books hidden strategically in the restroom and bedroom closet for reading.

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