Thursday, 13 December 2012

Bringing Up Readers

This post was 1st published in Mom&Me's Mom's Diaries

Reading is an integral part of my life and I sure have to thank my mom for that. There was never any dearth of books around us and mum made sure we read everyday. We weren’t forced tobut she build that as a habit of ours.

When my daughter was born, I always used to read out to her. Many people told me she’s too young to understand what I’m reading… I was sure she liked looking at the pictures.

Now, The Toddler is 2 years old and loves to flip through the pages of lots of books that she has, she also reads the books... says what ever she can. She treats her books as her possession, at her age its usual for kids to damage books. The Toddler tears/breaks every damn thing… but when she has a books, she sits down browses her books.

We as parents of young children, should know that if we wanna instill the love of books in children we should keep these points in mind. No two babies are similar not all things work for all children but mostly these things should work:
  • Its never too early to start reading to the baby. Initially their attention span is less, but that’s going to become better with time. As its a popular saying ‘Children are made readers in the laps of their parents’
  • Lead with example. My daughter loves to imitate my actions. The fact that my hubby and me are avid readers, made the Toddler curious about books.
  • When your baby’s attention span is shorter, choose small books with lots of pictures.
  • Read aloud with lots of expressions and different voices for different characters.
  • Try to incorporate reading into your daily activity, preferable do it at the same time each day.
  • Surround your little ones with books. Keep books at a lower level for the younger ones to reach them easily.
  • Young babies love repetition. They would like you to read the same book with similar expressions.
  • Always choose books that are appropriate for your baby’s age
  • Children’s libraries, reading clubs and reading activity classes make reading enjoyable for these young budding readers. 
  • Reading to your children can be a great thing when you have to wait for a doctor’s appointment or when you’re traveling with the little one.

Pick a book today and gift your child the Love of Reading.

Readers Are Born On The Laps Of Their Parents

2 comments:

  1. Hey, would really appreciate a list of good books too. My son is 3.5 mo and I have 1-2 sound books for him but I am not sure if they are the right ones.

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    1. Welcome to Momsters Kiran, thanks for dropping by. We would sure do a series of post on choosing age appropriate books along with some recommendations. Do stay tuned.

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