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So many times new parents hear people say, “Your baby does not know what you are saying, why bother reading to them as such a young age? It is such a waste of time.” The answer is simple. Though your child does not understand the contents of the book you are reading to them, this does not mean they are not learning. It is quite the contrary. They are learning how to pay attention, as well as different voice tones. Babies also love the sound of their parent’s voice, be it reading a book or carrying on conversations. If you take advantage of this early on, it will become part of your baby’s routine they will love right along with taking a bath every night or singing lullabies.
As your baby grows older, interactive reading will come more into play by you as the parents. Rather than reading to your child purely for their enjoyment of hearing your voice, begin utilizing hand eye coordination with each paragraph and each page. Point out colors, objects, pictures and specific words using your fingers. Have your child follow along with your finger with their own while you read the words, then have them turn the page at the end. This will teach them to read from left to right and to turn pages from right to left.
When you read to your child, do so with enthusiasm and excitement. Your goal is to keep your child’s interest. Remember, you are sharing something with them they otherwise cannot explore on their own. Pick from a wide variety of books relating to subjects that your child is interested in, including adult sized books without pictures. If reading becomes the high point of you and your child’s day, later struggles to keep your child’s interest in books and reading will be minimal if at all.
If you, yourself struggle to keep your interest in reading it is very important not to influence your children in this direction. A child growing up hearing, “Mommy does not like to read,” will most likely not like to read either. Our children are very impressionable and often follow our lead, including, but not limited to reading. Some tips to broaden your interest in reading would be to read short articles, rather than long books where your interest falls rapidly. You also may want to try audio books at first while following along with printed publications. Try anything to develop a better appreciation for books and reading so your children will grow to do the same.
Next to showing affection to your children, reading ranks high up there on the scale of importance. It is fun to teach your child the language, vocabulary and communication skills. You are also entertaining them while acting out the voices and actions of the characters in the books you are reading. Reading aloud to your child not only jump starts their imagination, it also develops their listening and concentration skills. By stimulating these skills early on, your child will feel encouraged to venture into creative writing and, possibly, journal keeping later on.
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