A love of reading opens the door to adventures , learning new things and a whole host of key language skills such as speech development and vocabulary building . spending time with books also creates special moments for your child and enjoy each other's company.
Just 10 to 15 minutes a day with a book is enough to spark your curious little one's interest. Read on for our top tips on fostering a love of literature.
Start right away
Reading to your newborn helps to give them the best start in life. Babies learn language from adults who repeat and read words to them . When you read to your little one , talk about the characters and objects in the book or the sounds the animals make. Hearing your voice helps give meaning to the letters and pictures they are seeing . As you read , vary the pitch and tone of your voice and try different accents or voices for different characters. It helps to keep your child engaged and make the story the jump off the page !
Remember children learn to love books long before they learn to read. Spending time with books together now will help children grow to enjoy them even more as they get older.
Model what a good reader looks like
It is important for children to see reading as something fun and pleasurable to do rather than a difficult task . What better way to teach this than to show them the ropes yourself ! If your children see you reading often , it is more likely to encourage them. This will also help to promote time away from screens .
If you have been away from reading for while, local bookshop owners and librarians can be wonderful guides in choosing the best books for you and your child . Family and friends are great resources too ! Ask about their children's favorite books and their experience reading together . You can even bring your little one with you and make it a special trip for picking out books together .
Take turns
As your child grows older take turns reading out loud to each other . If you have an early reader this can be as much as asking your child to point out letters and words he recognizes . Next take turns reading sentences. As his abilities grow you can take turns reading pages and eventually chapters . As you read together , ask questions about what you are reading " What do you think will happen next?" Why do you think the elephant did that ?"
The time you spend reading out loud to each other will help build confidence in speaking aloud and will reinforce what your child has learned.
Listen to your child
As your little one grows , pay attention to her interests. If she is particularly drawn to a particular topic , like dinosaurs, try to find children's books about that subject . This will help to reinforce that books are tools for learning more about the things we care about and she will be more likely to read if the subject matter is her favorite dino!
Don't worry if your children aren't reading Achebe or Dostoevsky just yet the main thing is that they are reading . If they are only reading comics right now that's okay. Comics and graphic novels are still opportunities for reading ! You can encourage them with other reading materials, but there is no need to push are not receptive to it right now.
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