I have been reading to Kenisha since she was 2-3 months old. She has learnt so many new concepts like colors, shapes, animals, expressions/feelings, body parts in a fun way. It also improves communication and builds listening, memory, and vocabulary skills for the young minds. Plus reading is an excellent form of stimulation too.
Initially as a baby she enjoyed looking at mirrors and pictures of faces, shapes , colors and so on. She would make sounds, reach out and touch the pictures and feel the textures in the books. I try and choose books with interesting pictures and textures and if possible with a good story line so it can last us few months once she may understand the emotion or concept. Now we have moved to Sing along books and story books with bright imagery and short stories.
Tips on Reading to your Baby
Am often asked by new moms about tips on reading so am sharing my top 7 tip on what worked for us to help you get started. Please remember there is no right or wrong way and its never too early or late. Just read and have fun together! .
- Make a routine or time everyday – We love reading before bedtime and its our quite and calm phase when we cuddle and read.
- Let your child choose a book. Sometimes I have found my baby love the same book for days! But if thats what they prefer, why not?
- Turn off the TV or radio so your baby can hear your voice and doesnt get distracted easily.
- Voice modulation works wonders – try out funny noises and sounds!
- Always read the book title and then talk about what the book about. It makes it interesting for the child. If there are are characters or animal they could relate to.
- Read slowly and spend time on each page after you read the words – this allows your baby to focus
- You can point and name familiar and new things. It will help your baby to learn about sounds and words. The more words children hear, the more words they learn
- Try and connect the book with your real life. For younger babies this could be object labeling like dog, flower, bottles and for old kids it could be an action “this is how you eat with spoon, that’s how you jump in park” and so on.
- Turn the pages when you read with your baby – this shows him how to use a book
- Remember it’s not important to finish a book! Its not a chore, follow the child’s lead and engage based on their interest.
Reading should be made fun for a long love for books as they grow. Keeping the momentum and upgrading to challenging literature is a good way to get going.
A fellow mom blogger Preetjyot has a wonderful article on how to make reading more fun. Read it HERE
I would love to hear more about your reading experience with your children. do visit my blog on Parenting
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I did follow this methods with my daughter when she was young and couldn’t read herself. Then for a brief period she wasn’t too fond of reading but now she made friends with girls who were readers and that has got her interested again.
Aesha, we are having a dry spell where K doesnt want to read much but it just might be a phase too 🙂
Reading is a precious habit to inculcate in kinds. This is a very nicely written post.
Thanks Manveen. glad you found it useful 🙂
Quite a useful post. We do all this while reading. What works best for us is enacting, dramatization and voice modulation. My kids get super excited by all this.
What a wonderful encouraging article Karuna! You are right, finishing a book, learning some concept is all secondary. We must focus on them enjoying the experience <3
This is a lovely post infact we do follow these tips and Books are the main reason to cut the screen time for my kids.
I completely agree..reading is great for babies. I used to bring books for my girls when they were small. Lot of benefits. It is a helpful post glfor new moms.
These are some wonderful tips karuna….voice modulation is what keeps my little one laughing and interested in books….
Oh yes K love its too!
Reading is definitely very beneficial for kids. It give us time to spend with our kids. Your tips are indeed very helpful.
Thank you Vidhi! I have had several moms ask me for how to read to babies and thats how it got me started
Love this post. I am so glad I started reading to T when he was a tiny. It has become his happy place now. Whenever he needs me or some comfort he pulls up a book and asks to sit on my lap. We love this time together.
That’s so good to hear! what is his current favourite?
He loves a book called When we went to the park. Its a story about a little child going to the park with her grandpa and seeing various things. Its a counting book for 1 to 10. But T loves it because it reminds him of him and his naana going to the park
Reading is the best thing we could do to our children.. I love mothers who are raising readers ..Kudos to you…And thanks for the feature?
those are some great practical tips. we used to read at the same yime every day and in a couple of days, my kids would bring the book to me on their own!
I am following the same since my lil one turned 5 months ..the benefits are sure to follow…check them here http://criesnlaughter.com/reading-books-baby-tips/
Voice modulations help. The child gets more interested in reading and looking into the book.
I follow some of these methods but not all. I think i should take reading seriously and follow all the points you mentioned.
I try to make my toddler choose the book for reading. It really helps to keep him engaged.
Excellent handy reference to raise a reading kit. Really appreciate your efforts on Raising your kid as a reading kit. I also introduced reading to my son at his early days itself.
Those are some great tips. I started reading to Ayu since he was 4 months old. Right now when he is 10 month, he likes fiddling with his books. Getting a hang of it slowly 🙂
Such a wonderful article and yes it makes them learn so much..We have a special book reading session we don’t waste time while breast feeding he loves to listen to stories while feeding
I am gradually inculcating these habits ! Thank you for sharing! It’s a saviour for moms like me
Amazing tips? Even I follow all these reading techniques when I read to Merog?
My Kiddo loves reading a single book many times. I prefer reading something he can relate to easily. Rather than books, we have kept good manners and good habits chart.
Makes absolute sense… we keep refreshing our collection based on what she shows interests in
Even I strongly believe that these habits can be inculcated in early years only. Great tips.