How should I read English picture books with my 3.5 to 6 year old?

Why does reading picture books matter so much?

Books use words children rarely hear in everyday talk. Researchers at Ohio State University estimated that by age 5, a child read one book a day hears about 296,660 words from books, a child read five books a day hears about 1.48 million, and a child almost never read to hears around 4,660.¹ Those extra words build the vocabulary children need when they start reading themselves.

“Each new word is a seed. Every class gives your child the chance to speak, try and be cheered on, in small groups with trainers patient enough to wait for that first brave sentence.”Krashanu Garg, Founder, Little Lingos

How do I make reading interactive?

• Point and name: “Look, a red bus!”
• Ask simple questions: “What is the cat doing?”, “What happens next?”
• Wait for answers, and accept a word, a point or an answer in your home language.
• Expand what they say: child says “dog”; you say “Yes, a big brown dog!”
• Connect to their life: “We saw a cow like that at Nani’s house!”

This back-and-forth style, sometimes called dialogic reading, turns your child from a listener into a storyteller.

What kind of picture books should I choose?

Books with big, clear pictures, short sentences and repetition, such as repeated phrases, rhymes or counting. Books about everyday things your child knows, like animals, food, family and bedtime, work well. Lift-the-flap and touch-and-feel books keep young children involved. Let your child choose sometimes, and do not worry about reading the same favourite many times.

What if my own English is not strong?

You can still read together. Look at the pictures and talk about them in whatever language you are comfortable with, then read the simple English words. Wordless picture books are great: you and your child make up the story. Audio books or read-along videos can model English pronunciation, as long as you look at the book together.

How long should we read each day?

Ten to fifteen minutes is enough for most 3.5 to 6 year olds, often at bedtime. If your child wants more, keep going; if they get restless, stop and try again later. A short, happy reading time every day beats a long, tiring one now and then.

How do Little Lingos Seeds classes use stories?

In Seeds, our stage for ages 3.5 to 6, each class introduces new words through a story, song or clip. The fourth term, Story Seeds, focuses on picture stories and retelling with props, and children practise telling short stories out loud. See also how rhymes help.