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Literacy
A love of learning has a lot to do with learning that we are loved.
Because there’s so much hard work involved in learning to read, one of the most important tools a child can bring to that task is wanting to read. With Fred Rogers’ background in child development and his own love of books, there is a great deal of encouragement throughout the Mister Rogers' Neighborhood series for children to enjoy and appreciate words, books, reading, and stories – sometimes directly and sometimes indirectly.
Reading Readiness
Here are some ways the Neighborhood programs open the door to reading readiness:
- Mister Rogers helps children know there are many different ways to get ready to read.
- Children are encouraged to listen carefully and look at things closely – skills they’ll need for distinguishing between sounds and recognizing alphabet letters.
- “Reading” pictures in a book (talking about the pictures or telling a story from them) draws children into books even before they’re able to read words.
- Being able to “read” symbols and sign language give children experience at decoding, which will help them understand that alphabet letters are symbols for sounds and words.
The way reading is presented in the Neighborhood
Although today’s technology allows for special effects and animation techniques that could “bring a book to life, book-reading on the Neighborhood program is much simpler. It’s closer to the experience a child has sitting beside a caring grownup who is reading to him or her. Mister Rogers turns the pages, one by one, and talks about the pictures as he reads the words -- close to the experience a child has with a real book.
Sometimes Mister Rogers or the neighbors read signs or write notes or messages, giving a context for the words and letting children know that words are useful and powerful.. When words are meaningful for children, they are more likely to want to learn to read.
That’s the way adults give children a boost for their pre-reading skills, by providing children an environment that is rich in different kinds of meaningful print materials (books, magazines, catalogs, menus, phone books, etc.) and one that is rich in sounds (balanced, of course, with silence.).
Reading with Children
A friend of ours recently had a “reading lesson” from his four–year-old nephew. As a young man in his early twenties, our friend didn’t have much experience with children, so he asked his nephew if he had an idea of something they could do together. "Sure," said the boy, "Would you read to me?"
So they gathered some books and sat on the couch with them. The uncle opened one of the books and began to read aloud. “Not yet.” Interrupted the boy. He proceeded to snuggle in closer and draped his uncle’s arm around him. “Now you can read!”, he said. He taught his uncle something important about reading that day. He seemed to be saying, “I’m not here just for the words and pictures in the book!” I’m here for the whole warm experience of being read to by someone who cares about me!”
People don’t have to be actors to read stories effectively to children. In fact, just talking about the illustrations can be a fun way to draw children into a book. All we need is simply to appreciate the child we’re reading to and appreciate the book. What a powerful way to say books are important. Passing on to children good feelings about books and reading is a gift that can nourish them all through their lives. And isn’t it amazing how some of the simplest things in life can turn out to be the most important.