Almost all parents dream that their children love to read, but for some reason they are by no means eager to pick up a book. How to raise a bibliophile? You need to start from the cradle, editors and experts in children’s literature Pamela Paul and Maria Russo assure. Here’s what they recommend.
Become readers. This is the first and foremost. If reading has long been relegated to the sidelines of your life, it’s time to return to it. Find time for books that interest you. To raise a reading child, you need to be a keen reader yourself. And the sooner the better.
If you think that the task of teaching reading will be before you when the child has already begun to walk and talk, you are mistaken. It is good for a baby lying in a cradle to be read to.
Read aloud to your child. Any book. A cookbook, a philosophical novel, a parent’s guide, the content doesn’t matter. The sound and modulations of your voice, the rhythm of the text, the very pronunciation of words are important. Studies show that the number of words that a baby hears directly affects how he will master speech, and then on his literacy. But there is one subtlety: only lively speech addressed to the child has a positive effect. Neither TV nor audiobooks will bring any benefit in this sense.
Of course, you can start reading those children’s books that you think it will be useful for the child to get acquainted with later, but this is not important. Don’t limit yourself. Read what gives you pleasure.
Choose paper books. Reading a paper book is a multisensory process that involves touch (when a child holds a book in his hands, turns pages), smell (smell of paper or glue), hearing (parent’s voice), not to mention the visual impressions of the book itself and pictures. These complex sensations enhance the pleasure of reading. There are also special sensory books, they are useful for the little ones.
Don’t forget eye contact but do not expect a special reaction from the child. Sometimes it seems that the baby is not listening to you, but in fact he is actively absorbing impressions and gaining experience. Some patterns, habits, and mindfulness skills that are formed at this age stay with a person for life.
Encourage your child to «talk». If while reading the child cooing or cooing — answer him. Don’t take this as nonsense: this is the important communication that starts the path to your reading together in the future. It is not for nothing that in books for the little ones there are often invented simple nonsense words or words that imitate the «language» of animals, all these «Meow», «Moo-mu» and «Woof» — it is easier for the baby to reproduce them.
From year to 3 years
It is difficult to overestimate the importance of reading at this age for the intellectual, social and emotional development of the child. When you read to him, he learns new words, and the structure of the language, and ideas about the world and man, and the simplest mathematical concepts, and rules of conduct, and much, much more. In addition, in the mind of the child, the book turns out to be associated with the sound of his native voice, and this is very important.
Awakening the reader
When will that magical moment come when the child begins to take an interest in letters and try to read his first word? Everything is individual: some children come to this earlier, others later. At first, the child cannot “recognize” a letter or word in any way, and then there is a breakthrough, a qualitative leap, an insight, when he suddenly understands how this is done. This is a real miracle, but do not rush this moment and push the child to it. Here’s how you can support an aspiring reader.
When the child begins to understand the words himself, ask him to read them aloud to you. This process should be a pleasure for both of you, you do not need to force the child. Make sure the baby is not tired. To begin with, point him to those words that he already knows and can definitely read. When he masters more words, move on to the next page. But this does not mean at all that from now on you should stop reading to him. A child who is read aloud by close adults feels a close connection with them, and this gives him a sense of inner well-being.
Don’t rush him. Although some kindergarten programs are designed to teach children to read as early as possible, there are no guidelines for learning to read. Every child will come to this in due time. Do not be upset if peers are ahead of him. Late-starters may become more engaged and deeper readers later on.
Picture reading is an important skill to develop as it is the foundation for later text reading.
The main thing is that reading is perceived by the child as something fascinating, exciting, inspiring, satisfying curiosity. This is the main task of the parent.
Cardboard books are the best format for younger children. It is convenient for a child to flip through thick pages. And such a book will survive if he tries it on the tooth or throws it at the other end of the room. The visual and verbal elements work on an equal footing here: both text and pictures tell a story.
Studies show that reading from pictures is an important skill to develop, as it is the basis for subsequent reading of texts. Deciphering a picture and deciphering a word are pretty much the same process.
What is important for a child in a book
Recognition
It is important for the youngest children to see in the book a reflection of their own world. Therefore, they rejoice when they see something familiar in the picture: the faces of babies or the most ordinary household items like a pram, a scoop, a crib. All this may seem boring to you yourself, but try to observe what your child especially likes and find similar books for him.
Feast for the eyes
It is best when a cardboard book has a lot of large and clear pictures and little text. For younger children, simple black and white images are suitable, for slightly older children, bright colors of drawings and expressive graphic design are suitable.
Less words
In the first books, the image should prevail over the text, otherwise the child will quickly get bored. The text should be simple and concise, without a single superfluous word.
Less sounds
If you’re thinking about buying an audio book, remember that young children get easily overexcited and tire quickly from bells and whistles (and so do parents). When it comes to sound, the most important thing for a child is to hear your voice, alive and warm.