To the editor:
Thank you, Christine Pauley, for your "The Reading Link" columns in the Newton Daily News. It is disappointing to see they will no longer be published.
I hope parents and child care givers looking for inspiration to ignite reading skills have used your articulate information and practical suggestions. There are so many easy ways to develop child literary skills.
I know one family who used to start a conversation they call “first ingredient.” It involves something as simple as taking a condiment bottle from the table and having the other family members guess the first, second, third, etc. ingredients in a product (the young child reads the bottle).
Go to the grocery store with young ones and have them help you find a product without high fructose corn syrup, etc., by reading the labels for you. When driving, read the S-T-O-P sign to your passengers, or spell out where you are going H-O-M-E or to the S-T-O-R-E, etc.
All it takes is a little imagination and patience and you — parents, grandparents, child care providers — can keep expanding upon challenging your children’s talents. Turn off electrical devices and spend some time involving your children in activities which include conversation and thoughtful feedback.
Carolyn Cook
Newton