Nursery 2 Newsletter

February 2010

The Joy of Reading

Everyday we read a book in class and the children have quiet reading time.  The children learn to treat the books with respect.  In order to do this we emphasize the purpose of books and what great fun we can have with them.

Books teach us new things or tell wonderfully imaginative stories.  They can be sad, funny, happy and scary.  Everyone loves a good book.  We learn a great deal from books.  As we read to your children, we teach them the job of the author and the illustrator.  We look at whether the cover is hard or soft.  We notice the pictures, colored, black and white, photographs, collage, or drawn.  We ask, is it a rhyming book? Is it repetitive?  Is it a counting book or an alphabet book?  Does it tell a story?  Over the course of the year, the children are taught to be detectives and make predictions.

As the year continues we look at various authors and illustrators.  Eric Carle, Ezra Jack Keats, Martin Waddell, Carmen Wilson, Mem Fox, Dr. Seuss, Audrey and Don Woods, and Jez Alborough, are just a few.  The class reads various fairy tales and acts in small performances.  The popular bear character provides numerous books that allow for great discussion about the animal and its habits.

The class builds on our love of books and the excitement of reading.  They begin to understand that letters create words and words make up sentences and sentences form stories.  Children take interest in their letters in their own time and learn to read when they are ready, but they love to listen to stories and become authors much earlier.  When they are ready to be their own author or illustrator, we encourage them to do so.  

Reading aloud to children helps them develop auditory skills, language, attention span, critical thinking and of course inspires imagination.  Each book we read evokes various feelings and hopefully creates curiosity.   We know the summer books bring comfort and pride to your three year olds.  We intend to teach your children that there is nothing better than a good book, and you can watch the movie after!

Books recently read:

• You're All My Favorites (McBratney)
• Blueberries for Sal (McCloskey)
• Little Polar Bear (deBeer)
• Bear Wants More(Wilson)
• Bear Feels Scared (Wilson)
• Bear Feels Sick (Wilson)
• Corduroy (Freeman)
• A Pocket for Corduroy (Freeman)
• Where's My Teddy? (Alborough)
• It's The Bear! (Alborough)
• My Friend Bear! (Alborough)
• The Big Honey Hunt (Berenstain)
• The Berenstain Bears and The Truth (Berenstain)
• The Berenstain Bears Too Much TV (Berenstain)
• The Berenstain Bears Forget Their Manners (Berenstain)