What's in a Name?

Beginning on Paper

on paper

I write it

on rain

I write it

on stones

on my boots

on trees

I write it

on the air

on the city

how pretty

I write my name

-Ruth Krauss

I love this poem because it captures the excitement a child feels when she first learns to write her name.  The other day, one of my colleagues commented that she could teach any child to read using his or her name.  It sounds ridiculous, but it’s a trick teachers have been using for years.  The first letter most children learn is the first letter of their name, and the first word they learn to read and write is their own name, followed quickly by Mommy and Daddy.  These words are powerful because they’re meaningful to our children.  There are some things we can do at home to help any emergent reader, whether they are very young or school aged. 

First, I recommend wall decals or signs that spell your child’s name.  Pottery Barn Kids actually has a personalization shop, where you can get everything from a mirror to an arm chair with your child’s name on it, for a price.  I just googled “name wall decals,” and found 4 websites that sell personalized wall decals for much less than Pottery Barn prices.  My sister hung a “Bella” decal on my niece’s nursery wall, and she noticed it before she could talk.  She would point to her name and say, “ooh.”  And we’d say, “That’s says Bella, B-E-L-L-A.” 

You can also sing your child’s name.  Any five or ten letter word can be sung to the tune of Bingo, so if your child’s name is Colin you sing, “There was a boy who had a name and Colin was his name-o, C-O-L-I-N . . .”  If his name is Kristopher, you sing K-R-I-S-T for the first bingo and O-P-H-E-R for the second.  Three or six letter names can be sung to Jingle Bells.  “S-A-M, S-A-M, Sam is my name, S-A-M, S-A-M, Sam is my name-hey!”  Four letter names work best with YMCA and for seven letters, you should sing “She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain.” Eight letters gets “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” and nine letters uses “I’m a Little Teapot.” For eleven and twelve, we sing “If You’re Happy and You Know It” and “Ten Little Indians,” respectively.  Your child will think it is her own personal song. 

If you’ve chosen to name your child Olivia, George or Lilly, you can find books with those characters in them, and it’s very motivating to read a book with your name in it.  As an adult, I once read an entire trilogy of mediocre books, because the main character’s name was Kristin.  My niece has a series of books about two little poodles named Bella and Rosie.  She loves them.  If your child’s name is not one commonly found in books, you can make your own.  I like Shutterfly, if you want something that looks professional, but in school we print them from Word.  You take a picture of your child doing several common activities, insert them into Word, and then you type the text under the picture.  “Tyler likes reading.”  “Tyler likes swinging.”  “Tyler likes eating.”  If you are going to type your own, put two spaces between each word; it helps emergent readers understand the concepts of letters, words and sentences.  Whatever the name, learning to read it and spell it, is the first step in early literacy for many children. 

Books with Names in the Title

Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes

Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson

Olivia by Ian Falconer

Curious George by H.A. Rey

Danny and the Dinosaur by Syd Hoff

Arthur’s Eyes by Marc Brown

Peter’s Chair by Ezra Jack Keats

Henry and Mudge by Cynthia Rylant

Bella and Rosie by Michele Dufresne

Matilda by Roald Dahl

Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan

Jake and Lily by Jerry Spinelli