Read to Your Children

Reading together twenty minutes a day is the most important gift you can give your child. All of us love our children more than anything in the world. In their first years, we feed them so they grow. We bring them to the doctor so they are healthy. We strap them in car seats so they are safe.

But the most important thing in the first years of life is the growth of the mind and spirit. This is when a child learns to love and trust, to speak and listen. After a child turns two years old, these things are very difficult to learn or teach ever again. Trusting, singing, laughing, and language are the most important things in a young child’s life.

Every day, find a quiet, restful place for twenty minutes. Put your child in your lap and read a book aloud. In the pages of the book you will find a tiny vacation of privacy and intense love. It costs nothing but twenty minutes.

Reading to your child is just like putting gold coins in the bank. It will pay you back tenfold. Your child will learn, and imagine, and be strong in him/herself.

Simple Strategies for Creating Strong Readers
Source: www.scholastic.com

Without a doubt, reading with children promotes success for early literacy. Putting a few simple strategies into action will make a significant difference in helping your child develop into becoming a good reader and writer.

Through reading aloud, providing print materials, and promoting positive attitudes about reading and writing, you can have a powerful impact on children’s literacy and learning. Invite your child to read with you every day.

1. When reading a book, point out words as you read. This will help your child learn that reading goes from left to right and understand that the combined letter sounds make words.

2. Read your child’s favorite book over and over again.

3. Read many stories with rhyming words and lines that repeat. Invite your child to join in on these parts.

4. Discuss new words. For example, “This big house is called a palace. Who do you think lives in a palace?”

5. Stop and ask about the pictures and about what is happening in the story.

6. Read from a variety of children’s books, including fairy tales, song books, poems, and information books.

Reading well is at the heart of all learning. Help make a difference for your child.