Is your child reading enough?

It is very important to expose children to the world of reading at a very young age. You can start with picture books; pictures visually stimulate infants, introducing them to a myriad of colours, shapes and objects. I started reading stories to my son when he was a year old; I started with the 'Ladybird Series' (Level 1). 

When he was about 20 months old and could correctly formulate sentences, I would ask him what he thought about the story and the characters and when he was about 3 years old, how could we end the story differently? Try asking your child open ended questions that would spark creativity and encourage curiosity.

When you read to your child, first and foremost it improves your child’s attention span and focus ,it also improves his or her listening skills. The child listens to the way you enunciate words and that helps the child with pronunciation and also increases their vocabulary. By reading out to them we instill in them the ability to think, create and analyze, as also help them master the language. They begin to enjoy reading and it ensures that they value reading and make it a habit to read when they grow up.

My son started reading when he was just four years old, when we started with three letter words and then graduated to bigger words and then of course to sentences. We started with phonic sounds on the ipad with a free app called 'Starfall', which teaches the child the sounds of all the alphabets in an interactive way. Then we graduated to four letter words and then a blend of words, and for this I used books called 'Funny Phonic Series' which was very helpful. I down-loaded 'sight-word' lists which the child needs to know as these words do not follow the rules of phonics.

 Then we started with 'Ladybird Keywords', 'Peter and Jane' books. By the time he was 4.5 years old he was very proficient in reading complete passages. 'Comprehension Books', 'Level 1' published by Scholars' Hub was helpful in adjudging if he comprehended everything that he was reading. The benefits of reading are manifold.Then we started doing exercises where we played games like 'Rolling Tales' to help him create his own stories. I would tell him to recollect stories which he had heard before. This helps in improving communication skills, builds confidence and ignites imagination.

I have compiled a list of books that should be read out to your children before they start reading:-

·        'Ladybird' books, Level 1 and 2.

·        'The Very Hungry Caterpillar', by Eric Carle.

·        'Gruffalo' and other titles, by Julia Donaldson.

·        'Room on the Broom', by Julia Donaldson.

·        Books by Dr Seuss.

·        'Harold and the Purple Crayon', by Crochet Johnson.

·        'My First Book of Bed-time Stories', by Miles Kelly.

  Books to help them, start reading on their own:-

·        'Funny Photo Phonics' (Blake Publication).

·        'Keywords' in 'Peter and Jane Series', A, B and C (Ladybird).

·        'Phonic First' books, 1-6 (Hunter Calder).

There are many ipad applications which help children with phonics:

·        'Starfall' app.

·        'Read Aloud Bedtime Stories' app.

·        'Kidophonics'.

Benefits of reading for your child:

·        Reading helps children absorb knowledge in all aspects of life

·        Exposure to reading enhances child’s brain activity and language skills

·        Reading enhances imagination, creativity and concentration

·        It is a great hobby

Tips to encourage your child to read:

·       Read to your child everyday

·       Give your child reading material which is in sync with their interest and capability.

·       Make videos of your child’s reading and show it to your child to boost self esteem

·       Praise them for their effort in reading

·       Create a cozy reading nook for your child to read

·       Make your child join a book club or start one of your own, where children sit and read together and discuss their stories with each other.

My son is now 6 and loves to read Enid Blytons , Roald Dahl, Geronimo Stiltson and Mary Pope Osborne, especially stories with pixies and trolls. They best way to encourage your child to read is to ensure your child has a good reading environment at home, he sees other members of the family reading and discussing what they have read.

A child who carries a book with a bookmark in it is at two places at the same time – Tony Abott