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Raising confident readers : how to teach your child to read and write-from baby to age seven
2010
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Library Journal Review
This is the first of Gentry's activity-based books (e.g., Breaking the Code: The New Science of Beginning Reading and Writing; Breakthrough in Beginning Reading and Writing) that puts teaching tools in the hands of parents. He focuses on five developmental phases to help prekindergarten learners toward independent reading and writing. After providing data to support his assertion that literacy initiatives should be started as early as possible, Gentry offers sample activities to help parents determine which phase best fits their child. Chapters devoted to each phase cover recommended materials, lessons, activities, charts, illustrations, and checklists to help measure progress. The final chapter covers answers to frequently asked questions; parents whose children have fallen behind in their literary development will find this section most useful. Verdict Gentry provides concrete teaching examples that are easy to implement; his user-friendly lessons offer opportunities for parents to have fun with children while they learn. Cross-references to appropriate chapters allow parents to customize activities to best fit their children's needs. Recommended for public and school libraries.-Karen McCoy, Farmington P.L., NM (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Children's first teachers their parents get first crack at nudging them toward becoming readers. Drawing on 30 years' experience as an educator and literacy expert, Gentry offers sound advice on how parents can develop strong reading and writing skills in children starting at birth through age seven. He provides plenty of activities through five literacy learning phases, from a child's early attempts at scribbling to handling early-reader books alone. Gentry's advice ranges from the well known (reading to children at an early age and talking to them at length and in an encouraging manner to help develop vocabulary) to the more neurological based (understanding the importance of drawing as a preparation for learning to read). He tackles the debates on reading theories whole language versus phonics-based. Using age-specific vignettes, he describes capabilities and methods of teaching reading and writing, focusing on a child's individual development, and advises parents on how to monitor development and test for progress. An abundance of graphics add to the value of this useful resource for parents.--Bush, Vanessa Copyright 2010 Booklist
Summary
Raise a Child Who Loves to Read

How do kids really learn to read? And how can you encourage interest in reading and writing from the start? In Raising Confident Readers, based on the five phases of literacy development, Dr. J. Richard Gentry provides fun and easy ways to teach your child to read and write successfully.

When it comes to language, the most critical brain growth happens in early childhood. Raising Confident Readers shows you how to activate and accelerate this capacity for learning: The key is to introduce the right activities at the right time. Whether your child is a baby or toddler, in preschool or kindergarten, or first or second grade, Dr. Gentry helps you identify your child's literacy phase and take the next steps to build writing, reading, and spelling skills. You'll discover:

How your child's brain learns to read--and why encouraging drawing and scribbling is as essential as reading aloud The best at-home activities to develop literacy early, naturally, and joyfully Recommended children's books for each phase Strategies for overcoming dyslexia, delayed reading, and other challenges Checklists and a milestones diary to celebrate your child's progress

As your child moves through the five phases, they'll soon be sounding out and spelling words correctly, reading chapter books independently, and writing creative stories on their own. Complete with samples of children's writing throughout, Raising Confident Readers is an essential resource to foster your child's lifelong love of reading.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgmentsp. ix
Introductionp. 1
1Start Early: Nurture Your Child's Brain as It Grows into Readingp. 15
2The Brain-Based Formula: Repetition-Enthusiasm-Attention-Drawingp. 28
3Find Your Child's Phase: Determine Where to Go and What to Do Next to Raise YOUR Confident Readerp. 43
4Teaching Reading in Phase 0: Building Foundations-From Reading Aloud at Birth to Teaching Your Child to Write His Own Namep. 65
5Teaching Reading in Phase 1: It's Time for the ABC'sp. 100
6Teaching Reading in Phase 2: Mapping Letters to Sounds-It's EZ For U to Read!p. 125
7Teaching Reading in Phase 3: Spelling with a Letter for Each Sound-"The Cat Sat on the Mat" + Phonics = Reading Up a Storm!p. 152
8Teaching Reading in Phase 4: From Chunking to Chapter Books-The Final Climb to Confident Readingp. 181
9Is Everything on Track?: Awakening Literacy with Confidencep. 207
Appendix: Special Memories and Keepsakesp. 219
Notesp. 225
Referencesp. 231
Creditsp. 235
Indexp. 237
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