Reading to Your Child

“Eee-uuu! Eee-uuu!” So goes the most often heard statement in our household these days, always accompanied by a stampeding toddler waving a children’s book. In case you don’t speak Izzy-ese, that’s his interpretation of the word, “Read,” as in, “Daddy eee-uuu pees!”

I wish I could say I’m always happy to read for my son. I certainly make an effort to accommodate him most of the time. I’d probably do so as often as he liked if he didn’t insist on rereading the same book half a dozen times in the same sitting. In fact, he usually goes through his entire collection twice a day, once with me and once with my wife. That’s the point at which my wife and I usually draw the line, much to his disapproval.

Of course, we both know how important it is to read to him. It promotes language development, develops attention span, and instills a love of reading, all of which will help him on the way to educational and life accomplishments. On top of that, it’s a great bonding activity. In fact, it’s one of the few things that’ll get him to sit down and be quiet for any length of time, which is a nice reprieve for all of us.

I’ve never thought of myself a big reader. I certainly don’t consider curling up with a good book to be my favorite activity. Still, reading is a part of everything I do. Without the ability to read, I couldn’t play D&D or World of Warcraft. I wouldn’t be able to work in the web industry. Heck, I wouldn’t even be writing this blog. My life revolves around reading. I only hope I can make my son appreciate it as much as I do.

But I digress. I’ve had my successes and failures reading to my son. Here are my tips for you parents out there as you open the book to your young readers.

Be expressive. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to read in a way that engages your child. If you’re dull or flat, you’ll lose their attention and express to them how little you care about reading, a trait that could rub off if you’re not careful. Read with gusto, putting emphasis behind the words. Do it like you mean it and your child will really care, in the short term as well as the long run.

Choose books at your child’s level. One of the biggest mistakes I made with Izzy was trying to read him Harry Potter. My wife and I certainly enjoyed it more, but Izzy couldn’t stand to sit through more than a few pages. Choose books that fit your child’s attention span and challenge their language ability without overwhelming it.

Pictures are worth a thousand words. Very young children can’t keep their attention focused on a page full of words. They need vivid illustrations and bright colors to draw the eye. As they get older, it’s fine to ease them into books with more text and fewer drawings. Forcing them into it too quickly, however, will only end up frustrating both of you.

Engage your child. Books are an opportunity for children to pay attention and learn, and many like to be quizzed. Ask questions. Get your child to identify the objects and people in their books. Ask them about colors and adjectives to get them thinking about how to describe their world. Most children’s books attempt to do this by their structure, but the reader can definitely help the process along.

This is by no means a comprehensive, or even scientific, list of suggestions. My experience as a caregiver is limited to my two-year-old son. Feel free to contribute your suggestions for reading to a child with the comments form below.

Aaaahhhhh…THIS is why they’re called “Grand”! It’s refreshing, Sweetie, to not only see that you’re reading to my darling Grandson but that you’re reading over and over and over to him his favorite book(s)! I only wish I had a nickle for every time you demanded I read you “The Three Little Kittens”…I believe I still have it [mostly] memorized…after how many years? Yes, THAT was your favorite book for a very long time! Remind me to get it out of the attic and give it to Izzy so you, too, can memorize it! Love ya, mean it!!!!!

Yeah, I seem to recall the three little kittens losing their mittens, although I don’t remember asking you to read it over and over again. There’s an undeniable element of genetic irony here. Izzy’s loves a book called “Violet’s House” to the point where Jennifer has it effectively memorized. I didn’t believe her at first when she said so, but just last night she recited it almost word-for-word without even looking at the pages.

Of course, I’m torn about getting him more books. On the one hand, it’ll add some variety, which is good for him and might not be so boring for us. On the other hand, he’ll probably insist on hearing all of them every day no matter how many he has. Ah, the joys of parenthood…

Rest assured, my darling son…the birthday fairie will be bringing many wonderful, age appropriate books!! And, memorize is, indeed, what one does with the toddler’s favorite book…yours was The Three Little Kittens…Nicks was Busy Wheels…which eventually lost its cover and eventually fell to pieces!

Great tips! My daughter has learn to love books at an early age. I used to read to her before she started crawling, that way I’d have a captive audience!

Here via Carnival of Family Life.

We have read to my son since he was born. Now that he’s one and a half he is learning all the sounds that I make as my form of “expression” during the reading. It’s quite funny to hear him make the sounds before me when we read the same book for the 234th time in his life

Here from Carnival of Family Life