How To Raise A Good Reader
You enjoy a good book and would love to pass this love of reading on to your child. Being able to read well is an important thing for your child to learn that will open all sorts of doors for her throughout live. Being able to read isn't just an essential skill we acquire as children,it is also a relaxing past time that allows us to explore all kinds of things and topics through books.
When you think about it, there really aren't hardly any occupations out there anymore that don't require a decent amount of reading. This includes reading training materials, manuals, notes from the boss and more. Of course being able to read well is something your kids need to master long before they enter the work space. They will use their reading skills every day in school. It is one of your biggest responsibilities as a parent to make sure your child's reading abilities are where they need to be to make sure she can keep up in school.
Teaching your child to love books should start as early as birth. Just make it a habit from the beginning to read to your kids. Young babies love to listen to your voice as you read out loud to them. What you read to your baby doesn't make a difference at this point. She won't understand the meaning of the words you are using for quite some time. What she enjoys is the tone of your voice, so pick up anything from a magazine to a novel and just start reading.
As your baby gets older, she will start to enjoy looking at picture books with you. The best books for your baby now have mostly pictures, preferably brightly colored and little text. Looking at images of other babies is another favorite at this stage and there are plenty of picture books that include photos of babies. The stories shouldn't be too long at this stage in your child's development, since her attention span is pretty short.
When your child reaches the toddler stage, she starts to enjoy books with a little more text. Young children particularly enjoy simple poetry and anything that rhymes at this age. It's the perfect way for your preschooler to learn to distinguish the different sounds in our language and how they recombine to make new words. As your child learns, she will often ask you to read a favorite story several times in a row.
To develop a love for books in your child, all it takes is to spend about 15 minutes a day reading with your kids.. That's all it takes to keep her motivated to develop good reading skills and enjoy reading on her own. Instilling a love for reading in your child is one of the best gifts you can give her.
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Published April 17th, 2007