The Triumphant Mom - 04 December, 2009
Your child can learn and benefit greatly from being read to right from the day they are born. Children's books come in all sorts of fascinating shapes and sizes. Grab a book and snuggle up on the sofa with your child and share the joy of story telling with them. The benefits of reading out loud to your baby or young child are simply endless!
Benefits of reading to your child:
- It encourages children to make connections between the "heard" word and the meaning "behind" the word.
- It gives them a positive foundation to pre-reading skills that aids the process of becoming independent readers in the future.
- One of the most important skills a parent can teach children is how to communicate: how to speak, listen, and to read. By reading aloud to your children, you are teaching them all of these skills.
- Reading to young children also expands their vocabulary, improves memory, and allows them to practice listening skills.
- Read to your child from a variety of sources. Such as books, cereal boxes, magazines, road signs, and greeting cards. By reading from a variety of sources, you are teaching the importance of the written word.
- Try making books from cardboard and pasting pictures from magazines - kids love these.
- As your child becomes older, he will want books that actually tell a story and have an ending that makes sense to him. Books help to develop the preschooler's attention span. They contribute to children forming a rich vocabulary and verbal skills.
- Books also help to develop thinking and the imagination.
- They also contribute to the development of basic reading concepts such as following the words from the left to right side of a page. Place books within easy reach of your child, so they can enjoy looking at them on their own.
So go and grab some books from your local book shop. Or get into the habit of taking your young child to the library to choose his own. This can go a long way to helping your child become a proficient and confident reader later on in life.
What are your favorite books to read to children?
By Nicole Rawson-Huff editor and co-author of The Triumphant Child - A practical guide to raising two, three and four year olds and Caring for your newborn: How to enjoy the first 60 days as a new mom.
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