Ebooks For Children - It"s Not Really Reading is It?
We all love the feel of snuggling up with a book with our child.
So how can reading ebooks be helpful for your child's development? Ebooks are not meant to be a replacement for reading together with your child.
They are designed to be an additional way to engage children in a literacy activity.
Kids love computers and rather than screen time simply being for fun they can now use the computer as an educational resource too.
The better ebooks available on the market are more than a video presentation of an existing book.
The ones that are simply videos do not engage your child in reading the words.
The ebooks that stand out from the crowd are the ones where the words highlight in time to the audio.
This encourages your child to read along to/follow the narration.
It models fluency, tempo and voice intonation.
The child will start to recognise the words and their relevant sounds.
Repetition is one of the keys to learning and a child can listen to the audio version of the story again and again whilst following along.
When children are becoming independent readers they will want to have a go at reading for themselves.
This is when they need the functionality of being able to click on an unfamiliar word to hear it spoken.
They can self pace their learning giving them a sense of control.
If they read to themselves and come across an unfamiliar word they can click on it to hear it spoken and carry on their independent reading without having to wait for adult intervention.
This can also become a game as the child clicks on a word and tries to say it before the narrator has had a chance.
This activity builds up their vocabulary and reading skills as well as being fun.
Animated illustrations engage even the most reluctant readers yet do not distract from the words that are equally important.
The illustrations in children's picture books are as important as the words giving the child an opportunity to understand what the words that are being spoken are describing.
Comprehension or recall quizzes at the end of an eBook ensure that the child has understood and remembered the story.
Knowing there is a quiz reinforces that attention needs to be paid to the story and reinforces understanding.
Ebooks can be a great educational and fun activity that you can share with your child or let them have a go themselves and be in control of their own learning.
So how can reading ebooks be helpful for your child's development? Ebooks are not meant to be a replacement for reading together with your child.
They are designed to be an additional way to engage children in a literacy activity.
Kids love computers and rather than screen time simply being for fun they can now use the computer as an educational resource too.
The better ebooks available on the market are more than a video presentation of an existing book.
The ones that are simply videos do not engage your child in reading the words.
The ebooks that stand out from the crowd are the ones where the words highlight in time to the audio.
This encourages your child to read along to/follow the narration.
It models fluency, tempo and voice intonation.
The child will start to recognise the words and their relevant sounds.
Repetition is one of the keys to learning and a child can listen to the audio version of the story again and again whilst following along.
When children are becoming independent readers they will want to have a go at reading for themselves.
This is when they need the functionality of being able to click on an unfamiliar word to hear it spoken.
They can self pace their learning giving them a sense of control.
If they read to themselves and come across an unfamiliar word they can click on it to hear it spoken and carry on their independent reading without having to wait for adult intervention.
This can also become a game as the child clicks on a word and tries to say it before the narrator has had a chance.
This activity builds up their vocabulary and reading skills as well as being fun.
Animated illustrations engage even the most reluctant readers yet do not distract from the words that are equally important.
The illustrations in children's picture books are as important as the words giving the child an opportunity to understand what the words that are being spoken are describing.
Comprehension or recall quizzes at the end of an eBook ensure that the child has understood and remembered the story.
Knowing there is a quiz reinforces that attention needs to be paid to the story and reinforces understanding.
Ebooks can be a great educational and fun activity that you can share with your child or let them have a go themselves and be in control of their own learning.
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