Reading to Children at Any Age is Vital to Their Development
Reading From the Beginning
You can read to your unborn child to relax the two of you and help the little one get to know your voice in gentle tones. This helps to develop the infant/parent bond.
Even reading while your infant is sleeping (if he or she will tolerate sounds while they rest) can be beneficial. It can be calming and you help establish a permanent presence.
Reading to an infant while he or she is awake can be difficult because they like to chew books and they do not have a very long attention span. However, making it a part of every day helps to establish a sense of schedule, and exposes the children to different tones of voice. Even at young ages, children enjoy hearing your voice go from high pitch to low pitch and it helps to give them a sense of dialog as well. Once your young one begins grabbing for the books, be sure to supply them with a mixture of flexible, washable books so they can explore without worry of damage. These usually have pictures that are appealing to young eyes and there are few enough words on every page to keep them from being overwhelming. Remember, reading to infants doesn’t have to be about a story. They enjoy pictures and seeing words will help their brains develop imprints for future learning. Expect the books to get abused a bit. Never discourage a baby from mouthing a book. Chewing is an infant’s way of learning about the world around them and this is how they learn to love books.
Even if your child does not sit on you lap or look at directly at you while you read, it is still beneficial for them to hear your voice and see you reading. You are building a solid foundation of reading in their lives and it will prove itself to be a good thing when the child is older.
Reading to Toddlers
When children become toddlers, reading can become difficult if you let it. Keeping them still for a story is next to impossible and keeping them interested is almost as tough. Most young children love to hear stories. It is important to make reading a relaxing time at this point. Avoid insisting that they sit down. Children between 18 months and 36 months are very on the go and making them be still for story time may encourage a negative feeling about book time. Because the children are learning more about day-to-day activities, choose books with everyday themes and pictures that they can relate to. Point out familiar objects to them. Use short sentences and simple words. Often, children this age will tell YOU what picture they see.
By the time children reach the age of two, the have the capacity to learn up to 20 new words every day IF they are exposed to them. Reading is VERY important at this time because it enables us to bring words we may not use every day into their world. It is hard to think of new words everyday to use with your children, and books make for a very easy activity that will do just that for us. Most toddlers want to hear the same books every day. They love repetition! Although it may be a challenge for mom or dad to read Goodnight Moon for the fiftieth time this week, it can’t hurt their little ears to hear it one more time. To a toddler, life is small and they are the only ones in it. They know what they want and they will ask for it. Giving in to round fifty-one will build a trust in your relationship that you understand and can provide a want of theirs that feels more like a need. And, after hearing it so many times that they can recite it, they do begin to set pathways in their brain for reading.
Have a selection of books to read and try to switch them out every three days or so. If they have a favorite book, definitely keep reading that one. It helps children develop social emotional skills because they connect on their own level with that particular story. But after reading their favorite story, try adding a new book as well. It is important to read the same books for a little bit to encourage the language development, but then switch them up to add new words into their vocabulary.
Having a large vocabulary increases a child’s scope of learning. If they know certain words, but others confuse them, they are more likely to remember instructions or things that go along with the words they know. Unlike grown-ups, children don’t yet have a concept of “context” and the more words they are exposed to now, the more open they will be to other learning later.
Building a love of books at an early age is important because they will be more likely to continue with the habits of reading later on. Reading opens many doors to children and grown-ups alike, but reading must be enjoyable in order to benefit from it.
Reading to Preschoolers
Now is the time to start introducing the “reading together” time. If you sit with your child and flip through the pages together, they will begin to understand concepts that are important for learning to read when they get to school. When you follow the words with your finger, children learn that words are read from left to right and from the top of the page to the bottom.
Children also begin to understand the concept of a story beginning, middle and end. Though they may or may not be able to express this in words, they know that stories start at one point, something happens in the middle, and then things wrap up at the end. This is good for teaching cause and effect and event sequencing. Also, vocabulary is still increasing at this point, but instead of being able to say the words like they do when they are just learning to speak, children begin to really understand the meaning of more words and use them correctly as an adult would; often to our amazement!
As children begin to memorize stories, they improve their brainpower. At the same time, they are learning to recognize words. You may not see this when it happens, but as a child begins to tell the story as you read along, he is demonstrating that he knows what happens “on this page.” As you are reading and pointing to the words, he is saying them, too and some of them become very familiar.
Many children learn to read by memorization. Others learn by phonics and sounding words out. Most children have one system that works well for them, and it is complimented by the other. Neither way is better, because all children learn differently. Memorization will build a good foundation for entering school and working with the teachers to further build their skills.
Reading at any age strengthens parent-child bonds. Spending time with your children reading is a great way to relax from your day and take some time for the two of you.
This is a good age to introduce books that allow for interaction from the child. There are many behavior books and emotion books that help promote discussion about things that may be going on with your children but not yet discussed every day. Any book can be turned into a discussion with a little prompting. Ask questions throughout the book to get kids talking. Things like, “What would you do if that happened to you?” or “Why do you think he decided to do that?” The questions can even be funny or creative instead of academic and thought provoking, such as, “If you were coloring this book, what color would you make the sky?” or “What do you think this frog is thinking?” Get kids involved with books and make it more than just a dreaded experience. Some children need interactive story time while others like quiet reading time. Feel out your children and go with what works for you. Any book can be talked about so be creative. Think of things that get kids talking. That is good for bonding as well.
Reading to the School Age Child
Once a child is in school, they begin to read on an academic level and it may not be fun anymore. That is when it is important to help curve the reading experience. It is important for your kids to see you reading for pleasure. When they see you reading, it will help them see that reading isn’t something people have to do but something people can enjoy doing. It is important now to have fun reading time. Without that, children may begin to feel as if reading is only academic and they may resent it altogether.
Let them bring home what they are learning and encourage the good work they are doing in school and at home. If a child has trouble reading, it can cause a big issue in their later school years. When they bring home reading, you have a better idea of how things are going for them and you can help to fix any problems that might arise before they get too bad.
Encourage talking about stories. Reading comprehension is as important as knowing how to sound out and recognize words. Of course the reading part comes first, the understanding comes next. Ask your child questions about what he has read, but not in a way that will suggest that there is a right or wrong answer. Ask things like, “What do you think Billy was afraid of?” or “What could the children in the story have done differently?” Children will be more likely to talk about things when they do not feel pressured to give a response that is right or wrong. Let them use their imagination a little and you will still be able to see what they are getting out of their reading material.
Remember that making a child read when they don’t want to will tend to make the child resent reading in general. Set up a time that is family reading time. Maybe you can all read aloud from the same book and just switch of pages or sections. Maybe you all can have separate books and sit together to read. Turn the TV off for an hour at night and pick up a book.
School age and Beyond
Studies have shown that children who grow up in a household with multiple reading materials available have higher grade point averages and a stronger appreciation for reading in general. It is a good idea to keep 5 different types of reading materials around the house. Having books is important, and letting your children see you reading them is too, but don’t’ let your mind stop there. Having newspaper or magazine subscriptions can be a very helpful tool in getting fresh reading material in the house regularly and also fine tuning it to personal interests. These days, the selection is vast for all ages when it comes to magazines. The internet, when properly monitored can also add a whole new perspective. When children can write easily, encouraging a pen pal is another excellent way to boost reading skills. Whatever you do, have a variety of reading materials available to your children so that they continue to read something that is interesting to them.
Once a child has learned to read for the most part on his own, reading develops creativity. It can also help them work out things that may be bothering them by letting them relate to a character in a book. They can learn the proper way to relate to other people in school and in public. They can teach themselves just about anything and you may be amazed at how your children open up to you if you ask them about what they are reading.
Make sure they are trying to read things that are on their level. A child can easily get frustrated when they cannot understand the words in a book. Also, help them see that they can move up to harder reading levels when they are ready so that they continue progress.
Every child develops differently. Some children read very well, others find it more difficult. Your child may need a tutor to help them get the hang of things. Often times, parents do not know where the hold up is in their child’s learning and it is good to introduce a tutor to diagnose it and help bring the child to their potential. Some children just do not like to read a lot. You should always encourage it, but not force it. Most kids will pick up a book when it interests them enough and some children need time to get used to it. Pressuring a child to read will leave them with a negative feeling about it and that is the last thing we want to do. Be supportive of your child’s needs and let them see you reading. Magazines, or novels, the newspaper or even cookbooks, let your children know that reading can be fun. You will see wonderful results as they learn to see the world through many different points of view and stretch their wings to soar!
