How Do I Read To My Children? August 21, 2019 – Posted in: Blog

Recently I was talking to new parents and I gave them a copy of one of our books as a birth present. I was chatting to the Dad and he asked me “How do I read to my child? My parents never read to me so I have little to no experience in reading to a child.” So I did a little research etc and here is what I came up with.

We all know that reading to our children is important right?  But we some times have big days ourselves and it can be quite frustrating especially if they pick up on a certain point and won’t let it go!  You know what I mean – “Why has the horse got 4 legs?, Why can’t he stand on two?, Does the man hurt the horse when he rides it?”  These questions are innocent enough BUT if the book is about the other characters it can be distracting and if you have had a bad day it can be annoying as well.  So here are some things to remember when you are reading to your child.  

You may go through a period when your child favors one book and wants it read night after night. It is not unusual for children to favor a particular story, and this can be boring for parents. Keep in mind, however, that a favorite story may speak to your child’s interests or emotional needs. Be patient. Continue to expose your children to a wealth of books and eventually they will be ready for more stories.

Its also important to remember that you too once could not read and that the print in the book looks just like hieroglyphics to a child.  

It will help, however, if we open our eyes to some things adult readers tend to take for granted. It’s easier to be patient when we remember how much children do not know. Here are a few concepts we adults know so well we forget sometimes we ever learned them.

• There’s a difference between words and pictures. Point to the print as you read aloud.
• Words on a page have meaning, and that is what we learn to read.
• Words go across the page from left to right. Follow with your finger as you read.
• Words on a page are made up of letters and are separated by a space.
• Each letter has at least two forms: one for capital letters and and one for small letters.

We parents can do for reading what fast food chains do for hamburgers? ADVERTISE! And we advertise by reading great stories and poems to children.

We can help our children find the tools they need to succeed in life. Having access to information through the printed word is an absolute necessity. Knowledge is power, and books are full of it. But reading is more than just a practical tool. Through books we can enrich our minds; we can also relax and enjoy some precious leisure moments.

With your help, your children can begin a lifelong relationship with the printed word, so they grow into adults who read easily and frequently whether for business, knowledge, or pleasure.

I hope you get a lot of pleasure from reading to your child.  You will look back on those times and smile I am sure.