Pre-K Reading 10/1/25 – We have the Books!
Today was an amazing reading day! I have to think that some of the success I felt today was a result of the attitude I had walking in the door.
Today I set an intention that I wanted to be fully present for every moment I had with each child. I try to have that intention every time that I read, but if I’m being honest, somedays I do better than others. Sometimes I’m hungry, and I’m thinking about the lunch that I’m going to have after I finish volunteering, or I’m thinking about the errands that I plan to run, or the projects I plan to do. But today, I walked in fully rested and completely engaged and passionate about the session I was about to have. I could feel the authentic smile on my face and the powerful energy that I was bringing into the room.
The kids are getting to know me and feel more comfortable with me. They all wanted to read. I’m very happy about the new system we are using to ensure that everybody gets an opportunity to read. Basically, I’m keeping a spreadsheet with the kids’ names down the left column and the reading dates across the top. I put a check in each child’s row on the date that I read with them to keep track, and I make sure to rotate through all the kids.
I read with kids one-on-one during the hour in the classroom. When the hour is up, the kids have recess. I’ve started a new practice of bringing my books outside to recess and setting up at one of the little tables in the play yard. When I’m reading with a child in the classroom and another one comes up and wants it to be their turn, I tell them that, although it’s not their turn right now, that I’ll bring my books to recess and they can read with me then. This alleviates some of the hard feelings when it’s not their turn yet. I’ve done this for the past few weeks and before today, none of the kids have come over to read during recess. I told the teacher that I would continue to do this for a few weeks to see if it catches on and today it did! I had kids at my table the whole time at recess. Some would come and read for a little bit, then go play, and then come back, or vice versa.
One thing that surprised me today was that, at recess, the kids all wanted to read the books on their own - even if they had to make up the words. When I’m reading with them one-on-one in the classroom, I always follow the words with my finger so they can start associating the written word with the spoken word, and we practice our ABCs and counting, etc. But on the playground, I relax the ‘rules’ and let the kids ‘play’ with the books (as long as they are handling the books properly). I consider it an excellent sign that the kids all wanted to ‘read’ on their own. This shows how much they really want to read - and that’s huge!
The other theme that came up today is that the kids are becoming more interested in the fact that I have a lot of books to choose from. One child asked me today “Did your mommy buy you all these books?” I explained that, since I’m a grownup, I buy all the books myself. But, I also told them about the library where you can borrow as many books as you want for free. Three of the children I talked to today did not know about the library. I’ve decided that I’m going to find a great book about the library so I can introduce this idea to them. Imagine their parents’ reaction when their 4 year old comes home asking to go to the library! I don’t think parents realize how much kids may love going to the library and picking out their own books. In any case, by kindergarten the kids will be going to the school library and my hope is that the desire for books and reading has been firmly rooted by then.
