books-children

Some years back I was a volunteer for the local literacy group. During my tutor training, I was reminded of the value of a small win. My first adult student could identify just ONE of the 300 most commonly used words in the English language. It was the word on.

Since her reading skills were non-existent, I was eager to try an exercise we had learned in training. It went like this:

  • The student would tell the tutor something about themselves in a few sentences.
  • The tutor would write down the sentences exactly as the student said them so the language would be the student’s own words.
  • The tutor then would read aloud the student’s words, pointing to one word at a time.
  • The tutor and student together would next read out loud the words as the tutor again pointed to one word at a time.
  • The student would finally “read” their words aloud as the tutor continued to point them out.

After a lifetime of being illiterate, the student felt as if she were reading. I loved watching the face of a student doing this the first time. The experience buoyed up the person with hope. “I CAN learn to read.” It was a small win. But a big one.

Experts say that small wins are building blocks for creating keystone habits that enable people to change. Small wins are enormously powerful.

I see this same type of transformational change take place with my public speaking students. They come to the first class with their own lifetime of beliefs regarding their inability to speak in public.

My rule is that everyone receives applause after he or she has given a presentation. Even if the speaker was able to initially deliver just 45 seconds of material, we all clap before we offer up one positive comment and one opportunity to improve.

So just as the illiterate adult absorbed the feeling of reading, these novice speakers experience what it’s like to face their fears and speak before a group to the sound of applause. Again, I love watching the face of someone finishing and hearing the applause. His face says, “Well, that wasn’t so bad. Maybe I CAN learn to do this.” A small win.

I just heard of a study that showed in order for a child to be language-ready for kindergarten, she needs to have heard a thousand stories read aloud to her. At first glance, that number seems significant. But if parents read aloud just one bedtime story every night from the child’s birth, that’s four years’ worth of stories for a total of nearly 1500 before the child is five. Just one story a day….a small win.

When I heard the phrase a thousand stories and did the math, I recalled that seldom did my children hear just one story a day. Children’s books were abundant in our home, available to be read when there were a few minutes between chores or while waiting for dinner to finish cooking.

But not every family has the luxury of both time and money to make that a reality. And as a result, every year there are children entering kindergarten already behind their peers. When they are behind at age five, they are likely never to catch up.

If you’ve been thinking about doing some volunteer work but are short on time, consider finding children who are waiting for you to read them a story. Look for opportunities at Head Start programs or other similar services.  Every city and town likely has an opening somewhere. Help a child gain that small win.

To my readers: If you could give just one book to a young child who has no books, what would it be and why?