Parents of bilingual children who attend Japanese primary school often find themselves faced with the task of teaching their children to read English. This monograph offers practical information and advice for parents who want to teach their children to read English at home.
Part 1 describes how parents should begin their child's home reading program by carefully observing their family's language environment and then making any possible adjustments to ensure that their family's daily life-style is as child-centered and communicator-friendly as possible. This will enable each family to devise a reading plan that best fits their unique circumstances. Part 2 discuses the pros and cons of various reading materials that are available, and it gives information on how to order these materials. Part 3 gives an overview of the Whole Language Learning method of teaching reading, and it describes why this method is well suited for teaching bilingual children to read at home.
In Part 4, the author describes in detail the home reading program his family put into practice for their primary school aged daughter. And in Part 5, the author concludes by discussing common pitfalls that bilingual and bicultural families face in their attempts to teach their children to read English.
