Karen's Tutoring

Reading to Your Children

October 14th, 2009 by Karen

Every Monday I have the marvelous pleasure of having my 15 month old grandson for the day. It is a privilege I have waited a long while for, and I thoroughly look forward to it. And I believe he does, too, because he never wants to take a nap when he’s here. It’s as though he’s afraid he will miss out on something.  By mid afternoon he is tired, but doesn’t want to give in and go to sleep. So we cuddle up in Grandpa’s recliner (which also rocks) with a big fleece blanket and a stack of books. What a glorious hour or so we have looking at the brightly colored pictures, touching the pages that are sensory enhanced, and talking about what is going on in those pictures. I talk, he jabbers, although the words are beginning to come.

As I spend this time with my special little boy I think back to participating in this same activity with his mother, aunt, and uncles. I have warm memories of a little one in my lap and a few more on either side of me reveling in the joyof a beautiful child’s book. Not a day went by that we didn’t read together. And I started reading to my children from birth. Sure, they didn’t understand what was being said, and probably couldn’t see the pictures. But that didn’t matter. It was the bonding and the developing of pleasant memories associated with books.

My husband and I are are both avid readers, so there were always books in our home. As the children came, so did the children’s books…and the bookcases…and the trips to the library. My children, in turn, became devourers of books. I remember reading an essay somewhere, maybe in Redbook magazine, by Judith Viorst (Alexander’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day) about the importance of children possessing books. She advocated the 3 Bs…books, bookcase, bedlight so they could read when they went to bed. I never forgot that, and I made sure my children had the three Bs. And as it turned out, none of my children ever balked at the idea of reading for school. They all became very proficient readers and lovers of books. My eldest is so possessive of books the family learned it was an exercise in futility to ask to borrow one. Both of my sons have extensive libraries. And I attribute this love for the printed to word to early introduction to books.

There are numerous reasons to begin reading to your child at birth.

• Bonding
• The pleasant memories the child will have of the physical closeness of a parent during the reading of a book
• Language development…don’t just read the words, talk about what is going on in the pictures, the colors, the shapes, the figures in the picture…everything
• Phonemic awareness…a crucial skill to successful reading.  Rhyming books are wonderful for this especially Mother Goose.
• They learn to listen.
• They get to experience beautiful art and wonderful stories.
• And they learn reading is fun.

The most important thing to remember, is that children imitate us. IF you want your child to develop a love of reading, she needs to observe you reading. That old adage “monkey see, monkey do”  holds especially true here. And this is the one behavior you want your child to imitate.

So grab a book and your child and have fun!