Importance of Reading

Hello blog readers,

March is National Reading Month and we want to touch base with you about how much we value and incorporate reading into our Early Childhood Education Program! At this early age, children either develop a love of reading, an indifference to reading or a dread of reading, which can shape the child’s future development.

Here in the ECE, many of our members cannot yet read or are just beginning to learn how to read. It is very important to develop pre-reading skills. Some of these pre-reading skills include book handling skills, previewing and predicting skills, letter identification and recognition skills, letter sounding skills and picture viewing skills. We also model reading stories to build enjoyment with reading and show the process of reading through a story.

We work to address these skills in a multitude of ways, including our literacy time, DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) time, as well as through our visits from Mrs. Katherine from the local library! Mrs. Katherine comes weekly to build a love of books with our children through “Story Time”. She brings props and music to incorporate with her story time and even allows members to check out books with her.

Reading is such an enjoyable and important skill to master. Here at the Boys & Girls Club Clubhouse Preschool it is one of our top priorities and we encourage parents to work on these skills and reed with their children before bed to help them develop a love of reading and learning.

Thank you for all of your support!

Devin Hudelson

ECE Program Director