Nurturing a Love for Reading in Kids Early childhood educators are well aware of the wide variety of benefits to be gained from exposing children of all ages to the wonderful world of books. This article looks at the best ways to introduce infants and toddlers to books. Infants Brain research has revealed that two year old children have twice as many synapses, the connections between neurons, as adults and reading to babies helps "wire in" those synapses, so that babies gain an early intellectual boost. Early reading promotes early literacy. How to begin Even before infants are talking, you can help them begin a lifelong love of reading. Snuggle comfortably with baby on your lap and share books with bright, colourful pictures. Make sure you choose books which will survive sessions with teething babies! Very young babies stare hard at black-and-white circles or simple face illustrations and by eight to 12 months, they listen attentively as you chant nursery rhymes, especially when the poem corresponds to the picture. A homemade book filled with family photos can provide comfort to babies of all ages. Ask parents to provide an album for their child and take the time to go through it with the baby and talk about the people on each page. Create your own books Cut out pictures of objects familiar to babies: a ball, family members, cookies, teddy bears etc and slip each one into a plastic flip file to create pages. As you go through the book together, talk about and verbally label each picture: "See the cat! Meow, meow. Soft cat, nice cat." Encourage babies to point to ears, eyes, or feet. This type of book is great to share with several babies snuggled close by. Modify picture books Often the story line of a book is too complex for a young baby. So, simplify and use your own words to describe the pictures. For instance, if you are reading Curious George, turn each page and exclaim: "Look, a monkey! Another monkey! More monkeys!" Remember: The story is less important than the pleasure you share as baby recognises the monkey's curly tail and brown fur. As you read with slightly older babies, be creative and make up a simple story about a character or animal on a page: "Look at that pony. He's galloping and running around on the grass. He loves to munch on the grass. Yum, it's good! Mama horse and little pony are eating their lunch." Be dramatic Your vocal expressions definitely make picture book reading more fun. Try all kinds of tones-showing surprise, whispering, drawing out vowels ("baby bear was sooooo sleepy!") to maintain baby's interest. When using a book to soothe baby, be sure to look for those with repetitive rhythms and gentle words (such as Goodnight Moon) so your voice and the story can work together to lull babies to sleep. Toddlers As you share books with toddlers, they learn that pages are read from top to bottom and turned from left to right and that pictures and printed words are related to each other. Books are also great memory stretchers and as toddlers remember story lines, they begin to choose what they want to hear over and over. Listening to preferred choices again and again increases a toddler's sense of self and security and they learn to really know a story. Give your toddlers several choices of books, and you'll learn just which ones they enjoy the most. Choose interactive books Even when snuggled close for story time, some toddlers may have difficulty sitting still. Try to find books that encourage their participation by pushing moveable parts, uncovering a hiding teddy bear, making a clown pop up, or patting the bunny! Help toddlers feel personally attached Toddlers like to possess books so try and look for copies with handles or large plastic rings that toddlers can clutch and carry around as precious possessions. In other words, hook your toddlers on books, literally and figuratively! Find books about kindly characters As you graduate to reading stories, be sure to share books about characters being kind to one another. Stories which reflect typical toddler emotions such as frustration, anger, sadness and fear may also be useful. Convey your pleasure As you settle down to read, let the children know you enjoy books and reading together. After all, toddlers are great copycats. If you are involved in a simple story, toddlers will get swept into the tale. As you encourage them to help turn pages, toddlers become truly involved with books for pleasure, for learning, and for life! Checklist How to nurturing a love of reading in the child care environment
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