The Joy of Reading Together: Building a Love for Books in Your Child
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Benefits of Reading With your Child
Reading to or with your child is fun! We read to or with our kids every night, with our oldest, I love reading with her where she reads a page and then I read the next page. Beyond it being fun, there are so many benefits to reading with your kids – here are my top five!
- Routine – reading at bedtime helps signal to your child that it is time to wind down.
- Language Development – exposure to a vast vocabulary helps kids learn the language faster and introduces them to new words and sentence structures.
- Bonding – shared reading fosters an emotional connection, it is also fun to discuss stories, what will happen next, etc.
- Imagination – reading stimulates the imagination through exploration of possibilities and worlds!
- School – at a young age, reading lays a foundation for academic success – for school aged children, it helps reinforce skills they are learning in school!
Book Recommendations
I have so many recommendations of books we have enjoyed throughout the years, but I’ll keep it to a top 5 that we have enjoyed at different ages and stages.
Babies/Toddlers
- “Goodnight Moon” by Margaret Wise Brown: this book is soothing and my kids enjoyed the illustrations and comparing the room in different pages.
- “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle: a classic that needs to further explanation. Kids enjoy seeing everything the caterpillar eats and start trying to read the book themselves out of memory.
- “Where’s Spot?” by Eric Hill: a lift the flap book, always fun for the littles!
- “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle: my kids memorized this one as well, it is a cute story that introduces color and animals.
- “Giraffes Can’t Dance” by Giles Andreae: another cute book I enjoyed reading to my kids.
Preschoolers
- “The Wonky Donkey” by Craig Smith: my preschooler loves this book, she has this one memorized and loves to read along with me.
- “The Ants Who Couldn’t Dance – A Kids Book About Cooperation and Teamwork” by Susan Rich Brooke: This is a cute book that I enjoy reading, the story is cute and really inspires teamwork and creative problem solving.
- “Press Here” by Herve Tullet: an interactive book your kids will love to read over and over.
- “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!” by Mo Willems: my kids enjoy all of the Mo Willems books, but this one is a classic!
- “There’s a Monster in Your Book” by Tom Fletcher and Greg Abbott: another fun and interactive book!
Make it Fun!
Sure, it is easy to read to kids, but how do you make it enjoyable and engaging? Read on for my tips!
- Read in different spaces: We always read at bedtime, but we also like to reaend in various different locations – for example, if the kids build a fort, we will read in it! When we go on vacation, we will bring a book to the beach.
- Use tone and expression creatively: Bring the characters to life!
- Explore different genres: Keep things interesting by exploring all sorts of different books! We like to visit the library when we want to try a new book or series.
- Celebrate: Kids love working towards goals – celebrate achievements small or large such as finishing a book or learning new words.
- Encourage participation: ask questions about what has happened, or what they think will happen next!