A Handy How-To Guide For Reading To Your Kids
If you are reading this, then you probably already know how important it is to read to your kids. Building a child’s literacy skills is essential for them to have the best opportunities in their employment and education. However, knowing it’s important isn’t nearly the same as knowing how to do it. Reading to your kids can appear to be a mammoth task, what books do you use? How do you build their skills? So, here is a snapshot guide on how to read to your kids according to their age.
Newborn-12 months
Reading to a newborn might seem counterproductive, but it is an essential step in their literacy journey. You should read to them whenever you can, but make sure to set at least one scheduled time a day. It doesn’t have to be for long, even a few minutes at a time is great. Keep a book on hand that you can read to them whenever there is a spare moment, you could even use a magazine!
When it comes to what books to use, babies under six months will respond best to books that have playful elements like crinkly textures and flaps they can pull. For over six months, it’s time for books with simple stories or rhymes. There’s no such thing as reading a book to your baby too many times, repetition is great for their learning.
When you are reading to your baby it’s best to take it slow. Take the time to pronounce the words and let your baby spend some time looking at the page. Make it fun by using your voice and facial expressions, they will love it. Keeping on track with the book isn’t the important part when reading to babies, making it fun is.
1– 3 years
At this age your child can get much more involved with reading. It’s still important to read every day, so keep up your reading schedule, just aim for a bit longer each day. You can use a variety of books with your toddler, but something that includes rhyming and repetition is best for their learning. Look out for books that include their favourite things, it could be animals, space, or princesses, as long as they enjoy the topic, they’ll enjoy the reading.
When reading aloud to your toddler get them involved as much as possible. Encourage them to turn the pages of the book, or even hold it if they can. Immerse them in the story by asking questions before you even start reading. For example, ask them what they can see on the cover. When you come across a chance to sing or imitate noises, take it! This is ideal for building a love of reading and having some fun bonding time together.
3–6 years
For children this age you can start to really hone in on their literacy skills. You will have a feel for their reading level by this stage, so keep this in mind when picking books. Generally, they will continue to learn well from repetition and rhyme, as they did when they were toddlers. But, this is a good age to expand in as well. You can bring in educational books about math or the alphabet, if you haven’t already. This is great for building their literacy skills along with other essential skills, like addition. Not all your books need to be like this though, ones with humour or stories about things they will recognise, like family or children their own age, are terrific.
Continue asking questions about the story like you were doing already, just expand to ‘what’ and ‘why’ questions. For example, “what do you think she will do now?” Make time while reading to show your child the punctuation in the book, show them the question marks and capital letters, and explain what they do. It’s still important to make it fun, so keep up the playful voices! As you are reading daily, you might find your child wants to re-read some favourites of theirs. Don’t stop them from doing this, re-read over and over as repetition is great and it builds reading for pleasure.
6 years +
Yes, at this age most children can read, at least at some level, by themselves. Your child having independent reading time is important, but they still need you. Having you there to practice the more difficult words with, or to help them sound the word out, will elevate their skills and confidence.
For this age there are two types of books that are important; ones your child can read alone and ones that they can’t. Have books around that match your child’s skills so they can have time to practice alone. But, also make sure to read them a book that is outside of their current reading level. This will help your child expand their language and vocabulary skills, as you can expose them to a wider world of literature.
A new stage you’ll likely encounter at this age is your child wanting to read out loud to you. It’s important to encourage your child to do this and be ready to listen. You can help them through it, for example when they reach a difficult word encourage them to sound it out. Praise is so important here, so give them plenty of positive reinforcement.
At the end of the day, you will make a huge difference to your child’s literacy skills, and future, as long as you put in the time and have some fun. So, now that you know how to, let’s get reading!
