Many parents focus on helping their children fall in love with reading, and for good reason. Reading is one of the best things you can do in life as a child and as an adult too. It can open up many new possibilities and enrich your life in multiple ways. As a parent, reading can help you help your child become the best they can be.
The joy of fostering a love for reading is that it's never too early to start. Even reading to your baby can have a profound impact on their development, fostering a closer bond between you and your child. This early exposure to reading sets the stage for a lifelong love of books and learning, a journey filled with joy and discovery.
But when it comes to getting your toddler or child involved in reading, there are many things you can do to help them develop a love for the written word.
Make It Fun
As a parent, you hold the key to making reading a fun and engaging experience for your child. No one likes reading boring text or being faced with pages upon pages of words they are simply not interested in or hold no value. If you don't enjoy this, it's highly likely that your child won't. Children learn more when they're having fun and don't realize they're learning.
So when it comes to reading, you need to make it as fun as possible. You can use different devices to help bring the story to life; you can use toys to help you tell the story; toys beginning with the letter a, for example, can help you bring spelling to life and help your child recognize letters and word when added to other toy letters, or anything else that your child enjoys to help them engage with books and stories and want to read more.
Read Aloud
Reading aloud with your child is one of the best ways to build a bond. While older children benefit from reading independently, reading aloud to younger children helps them get to know the story. Reading independently allows older children to practice their reading skills, build their vocabulary, and develop their comprehension. It's important to encourage both types of reading as your child grows.
They can follow along with the words on the page to help them learn how to read easier; they cause their imagination to decipher what they think the story is about even if it's not right to help develop their creativity, or they can read with you if they know the story but make it your goal to read aloud with your toddler as much as possible.
Use Different Mediums
Reading shouldn't be limited to books. While physical books are an excellent reading tool and hold just as much value in the modern world as they did pre-technology, there are so many ways your child can learn to read that don't involve a physical book. You should use as many as you want to help your child develop a love of reading.
You can use apps, games, prompt cards which can have simple words or sentences to encourage reading, subtitles on TV or their favorite TV show to expose them to words, allow them to read packaging and signs they come across in public, anything and everything that has words, and can help your child learn to read and become interested in this timeless hobby at a young age. The more it's encouraged in any format, the more they will be open to reading whatever form they come across.
*contributed post*
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