DADS THAT READ....
I've mentioned before that one of my childhood memories is Dad reading fairytales to us kids. They were from this big book of Grimm's Fairytales (wonder where that book went?) and they were the traditional style tales. Full of cutting feet to fit into shoes and people being killed. We would take turns whose room we were in when these stories were read, and many a night my sister and I would RUN from the boy's room and jump into our beds at the end of a story session. Too afraid of what...or who...was in the dark waiting for us.
But the point I'm making is, that this is one of my strongest childhood memories (we'll talk about fishing and mushrooming and caravanning another time).
I have quite a few dads that join us for Tinies Time, some with mum, even a few grandfathers that come along to our sessions. Two fathers come every second week, sit in 'Dad's corner' as they've named it, with their two little boys. They sing, not that loud, but they love the actions when the babies are bounced or tossed. And they both read to their babies.
Interestingly, reading to children is seen as a female activity. We all assume that mums read to their children all the time and when a dad reads it's that much more special. Unfortunately this seems to be the case. Mostly because the majority of stay at home parents are women. They spend the most time with the children, therefore they have the ability (and dare I say time) to read much more to them.
It's also been discovered that women read to children differently to men.
Women tend to ask 'focused questions' such as 'Oh look there's apples on the tree, how many do you think there are?' Or 'so what colour are the apples?'
Men, it has been noted, tend to ask more abstract questions. They would notice the apples in the illustration and then say 'do you remember the time we climbed the apple tree and you got stuck and we had to get the ladder to get you down?'
This was a surprising discovery for me as I do realise I do ask the focused questions...at Storytime we tend to count the apples or notice what colour the boat is or is the person happy or sad.
I think the best option is to take the reading in turns. Mum read a story one night, Dad the next and so on. This way we lead by example (showing our children that we love to read) and we spend that extra bonding time with them.
Remember that children learn by what you do.
Vicki
But the point I'm making is, that this is one of my strongest childhood memories (we'll talk about fishing and mushrooming and caravanning another time).
I have quite a few dads that join us for Tinies Time, some with mum, even a few grandfathers that come along to our sessions. Two fathers come every second week, sit in 'Dad's corner' as they've named it, with their two little boys. They sing, not that loud, but they love the actions when the babies are bounced or tossed. And they both read to their babies.
Interestingly, reading to children is seen as a female activity. We all assume that mums read to their children all the time and when a dad reads it's that much more special. Unfortunately this seems to be the case. Mostly because the majority of stay at home parents are women. They spend the most time with the children, therefore they have the ability (and dare I say time) to read much more to them.
It's also been discovered that women read to children differently to men.
Women tend to ask 'focused questions' such as 'Oh look there's apples on the tree, how many do you think there are?' Or 'so what colour are the apples?'
Men, it has been noted, tend to ask more abstract questions. They would notice the apples in the illustration and then say 'do you remember the time we climbed the apple tree and you got stuck and we had to get the ladder to get you down?'
This was a surprising discovery for me as I do realise I do ask the focused questions...at Storytime we tend to count the apples or notice what colour the boat is or is the person happy or sad.
I think the best option is to take the reading in turns. Mum read a story one night, Dad the next and so on. This way we lead by example (showing our children that we love to read) and we spend that extra bonding time with them.
Remember that children learn by what you do.
Vicki
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