Reading And Play

Attended the Astrid Lindgren celebration at WRL yesterday and was reminded of the relationship between 'reading and play'. Astrid Lindgren, an advocate for a child's right to play. Astrid's believe has been very distinctively portrayed in the character of Pippi Longstocking.

The first speaker Ms Åsa Tolgraven has shown us the unique curriculum of the Swedish pre-schools where the right to play, adventure and fantasy are the key words. The second speaker Ms Lwin Moe Moe has emphasized that reading should be fun. Strategies to support early literacy are through activities and drama, allowing children to experience, explore and play.

I remembered learning from 'sound' books when I was a young mother. I was fortunate enough to be able to find as well as to pay for these invaluable resources - press the button and we can sing along and enjoy the words and illustrations at the same time. We also tried singing the rhyme without the help of the recorded tune! taking turns to sing the lines or alternate singing the songs. Both my child and myself had really good time : )

I did some simple fingerplays with my child when she was a baby. When she got older, I decided to expand my 'repertoire'. I bought a 'tape and book' set and started my learning journey. Instead of enjoying the fingerplay with my child, I spent most of my time learning and practising! Learning from tape and books was really frustrating for me : (
After much agony, decided to stick to my existing repertoire and enjoy my child instead : )

Wondering if the library collection should include the 'sound' books for young working mothers. How are the new generation of young mothers coping? Are they spending enough time to read and play with their kids? Do the new generation mothers know anything about fingerplays?