When a parent asks me what they can do at home with their child, I always say READ TO THEM!
In a previous post I've explained how reading is important because it builds vocabulary, promotes empathy, reduces stress, develops language and listening and encourages sound-word awareness.
I've also encouraged parents to make it fun by adding facial expressions, voice inflections and sound effects.
But now I'd like to break it down further and expand on which books to read at various ages and why?
Under 6 months
Babies under 6 months benefit from hearing the books you read to older children, as it allows them to hear the rhythm of language, and trains the ear to pay attention to longer sentences.
6-12 months
Expose your child to cloth or board books with flaps and textures like bits of fur, crinkle paper or buttons to keep then interested. They will examine and manipulate the books with their mouths and hands. The books must have simple pictures paired with single words.
1 years old
Nursery rhymes and colorful books with thick pages that can turn easily allow parents and children to begin dialogic reading- having a conversation about words in a book to help retain vocabulary. Encourage pointing and gesturing and imitation of words and sounds.
2 years
Toddlers are ready for books that have more complex pictures and stories. Choose something familiar such as bed or bath-time. If your child struggles to sit still choose more interactive books with flaps or pullout tabs or electronic ones that make sounds when you push buttons. Toddles love re-reading the same books so try prompt them to tell you what happens next. Talk about the pictures to expand on sentence construction.
3 years
Read stories with simple plots that have 3- 4 sentences per page. Non-fiction can also be introduced e.g. topics like dinosaurs, space. Books can now have multiple pictures on the page, and to help your child you can point to the relevant ones you read, and also point to the text to show the child we read top to bottom, left to right. This also lets them see that text has meaning. Explain the meaning of new words to your child and discuss the characters feelings. The book becomes a place to build literacy as well as a place to problem solve and regulate emotions.
4-5 years
Books with 4- 10 sentences per page with multiple issues, secondary plots and characters who have conflicting issues can be read. Pre-reading skills such as rhyme, alliteration and word identification e.g. store or sign names can be focused on. Your child can predict what will happen next, which helps them think about experiences as a sequence of events.
6 years and up
Look at chapter books with fewer or no pictures. Help them experience more complicated plots and advanced language e.g. passive sentences. Talk about what you have read and how it relates to their lives. This is the time when they become ready for the next step- moving from learning to read to reading to learn!
Reading does not have to cost you a fortune. Find material online, join your local library, and go to second hand book shops or share books with friends. Its a life long joy and one to be nurtured from little....
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