Reading to your children/babies

[Tanikit]

In general the reading level of books you read to your children is supposed to be higher than the books they can read themselves. Most of our babies are not yet reading books, but can read many words already, so what type of books are you reading aloud to them? Do you increase the level of the books you read to them as their own reading level increases?

I have been doing a bit of an experiment with my daughter to see what type of books she can handle and have been amazed at what she can listen to and also what she has to say about these books - she can now retell quite a bit of the stories and pick out points of interest. She seems more interested in classic stories than in some of the "sweeter" books I have tried reading to her. Her comments about the books she likes are in quotation marks afterwards.

Here are a few of her favourites:The three little pigs ("wolf, bad" Do you think the pigs will let him in? "Nooo")
                                            Goldilocks and the three bears ("baby bear chair broke, sad")
                                            Bambi ("Bambi, Mummy gone, Daddy come")
                                            Tales of Peter Rabbit ("Genna" (Mr McGrgor) "I see, run bunny run")

Does anyone have experience with children who learn to read early - when do they progress to listening to chapter books or do their listening skills start to run parallel to their reading skills - do you stop reading to thejm sooner than you would normally have? What do you plan to do with your child as they grow older?
 

                                                     

[mommy_rn]

I started at birth reading aloud to the children great classics that *I* had always wanted to read, or had read and loved. I just stopped reading if their attention wandered and picked up there again the next night...

You can try that with older kids, too... mine loved hearing Lord of the Rings as toddlers/preschoolers... it's great for sleepytime.

[KL]

They can certainly understand a lot more than they can read.

also, even if they don't really understand exactly what's going on, just understanding a tiny bit of it is enough to keep their interest.  It's like how Felicity now loves watching Kung Fu Panda over and over again though I'm sure she doesn't understand a lot of what's being said.

For reading, it helps that I show her the pictures on the book and make short summary statements or commentaries to help her understand what's going on.

Nowadays we read a large variety of books in terms of difficulty levels.  with the easier ones I make her read it herself (mostly), or take turns reading.

[Lisac]

I use just about anyreading material that will keep my son's attention. Everything from simple story books 'A Cuddle for Little Duck' to the Ben Meadows Catalog (outdoor catalogue with everything from fire fighting equipment to clothing). 'Richard Scarry's Best Story Book Ever' is a good one. It has simple stories as well as Mother Goose Rhymes and lots of words with pictures that represent the word.

My sons listening skills are above his reading skills. 

[momtomany]

I'm starting to think that my little boys could listen to Curious George stories and Babar stories every night for the rest of their lives!  Also they enjoyed the Frog and Toad books.

They also love books that have rhyme... they memorize parts of these very quickly and like to say the last words of each stanza.

One of my favourite books to read is called "The Wretched Stone" by Chris van Allsburg.  It's a satire and criticism of television... a really neat story the kids also liked.

[Skylark]

"Christian Mother Goose Big Book" by M Decker is excellent for young children. I would definetly recommend it!

[Kappasweet]

We read every Dr. Suess, we like it.  He also read some golden books and Your Baby Can Read books.

[mas2in]

My son at a very young age developed a love for books.  We started before he was born.  My wife and I made it a daily routine to read out loud together and this interest is definitely seen in our son.

Children are particularly observant of things that we may not always see.  If they see an interest in a specific area, a lot of times through copying or imitating it will be carried on.   Now as for reading to your children this is definitely a step in preparing your child for reading readiness.  As a parent, we need to show our interest if we want them to excel in what we see as important.  So, as a parent, am I taking my time to read, or better yet spending the time to read?   Your little one is going to pick up on that.  It is always a great joy to see your little one copy you.  I mean they pick up whatever you do very quickly.  In fact it is a little scary at times because you find them imitating things you don’t want them to imitate (and I mean at a very young age), but what a thrill when you are seeing them copying the very thing you want them to copy.

If you have certain books that you really like, most likely that will be expressed in the way you read or tell the story.  So in getting started I would recommend any books that you would consider fun and exciting to you.  At first we read the Bible, marriage books, and parenting books together (before birth).  And then after birth we continued with those for ourselves, but went to books that were more age appropriate for him (hopefully you have a few favorites).  I would recommend coming up with a variety of different books, and as you find his or her particular interests. For example, our boy really likes dogs and other animals.  You will find out that there will be certain books that they will want to hear over and over again.  Great!  Don’t stop! Keep that interest and keep it going by making reading a habit in the home.  Make a set time for reading DAILY, even if it is for only a short time.  Let it become a habit. 

It is important to keep reading to them even after they have mastered it.  Those stories I heard as a kid in the classroom still remain in my mind and have become some of the books that I find myself using in the classroom myself.  In other words let them read on their own as they learn to do so, but also read to them as well. 

When I was teaching first grade, I remember one student in particular who picked up reading very quickly.  In that class I had a homework requirement of reading with or to your child at least 5 minutes per day.  Well this turned into a problem, as when she went home it turned into hours of reading, and the mother seemed to be quite upset when she came to me and told me about the problem.  Then I explained to her, the idea of forming a habit, and that she did not have to spend the whole time listening or reading to her daughter.  I told her that I just wanted to make sure the children really developed an interest in reading and that only 5 minutes were required. 

By the way, I believe that she tested at the 7th grade level by the end of her first grade year in school.  Who knows what she would have scored if she had the LR program or someone would have taken the time to teach her to read before 5.  But I am secretly glad that mother took the hours to listen to her daughter.  She was the one who really helped her child blossom. 

[Seema]

Hi Mas2in,


Thanks for sharing your experience with on the LR.

next time i will make sure to read the books before the birth of child.

[Mandi Quiring]

My oldest is two... we read from birth to him... we did not know about Glenn Doman at the time.. we read  the books we wanted to read outloud at night I would put my son in his crib and sit in the rocking chair with a good light on my book and read.. I read the history of the world.. my husband read an industrial boiler manual to him (his work)  As he got older we adapted and read stories of interst to us and then to his interest.. and a lovable stories like "I'll love you forever" RObert Muensch... (might be spelt wrong)  He loves reading...

Now in his second year of life he always had a hard time falling asleep... so I thought chapter books like when he was younger might help get him to sleep... So after the 3 story books he picked out each night I started reading a chapter... sometimes more to him. 
To date we have read Pollyanna, Heidi, Around the world in 80 days, Great Expectations (I changed some things here... I forgot the storyline about the convict was so graphic at the beginning but my son insisted he wanted me to keep reading.. so I read really fast and changed things and didnt use my finger to follow the words.. looking beack he probably was insisting on me reading because he thought his mom was acting pretty funnY) and we are currently reading the swiss family robinson.   

In short, he loves it.  It is amazing the different perspective he has on things when we talk about the books... or it comes out in everyday conversation.  For example, after reading Pollyanna my son said to me one day... "Mom I must be pretty special... I smiled and agreed... and he said I am the only one who has such a big piece of carpet in my room... just like Pollyannas aunt."  (our house has hardwood and ceramic tile and in his room we have a large play thick carpet mat) ... Also after reading Pollyanna he always insists on holding my hand whereever cars are... and he NEVER goes close to the road by himself because he doesnt want ot have to leave his mommy to go to a hospital like Pollyanna did. 
Its beautiful to see through the eyes of a child.  To hear what they are thinking throughout the influence of books... after great expectation (modified) My son wanted to buy a big heart for PIP because he was so poor at the beginning and had lots of love. It was the cutest thing to be shopping and he asks for a heart for PIP. 

I think the skys the limit to what you can read to your toddler... One thing I try to keep in mind is try to perserve their innocence a little bit.  Tell stories that are still lovable... with kind people in them.... they learn about evil in this world fast enough.

By the way... it didnt work for a sleeping mechanism... in fact when I am close to the end of the book either I read extra chapters because its exciting in the end... or he requests more because hes so caught up in the story... but I guess he gets to feel this way just how much fun the joy of reading can be.... my one year old currently just listens as he sleeping (or falling asleep in his crib... they share the same room)

[momtomany]

I didn't read so much with my first child until she was showing more interest in hearing stories.... about 4 years old or so.  Then we read every night before bed.  She was already old enough for shorter chapter books (like Roald Dahl or Arnold Lobel books), so that is what we read the most.... I found reading picture books with young kids wasn't settling them down for sleep (sleep being the goal!)  By that time, we had another little girl (3yrs9mnths apart) and so when I was reading, she was on my lap nursing or just listening.  By the time our second child was one, she was picking up picture books (which she handled with great care already by 12 months) and 'reading' them to herself.... she would look at the page and 'babble, babble, babble' then turn the page and 'babble, babble, babble' some more.  It was SOOO cute!  By the time she was 18 months or so, on the rare occasion we had a babysitter for the girls, the only way to get out the door without a bunch of toddler-tears was to instruct the sitter to start reading a book to her and she would be happy.  When our first was young, I became interested in homeschooling and read John Holt who advocates waiting until the child shows an interest... even if reading 'instruction' doesn't happen until they are 7 or 8 or older!  But I liked his ideas, so we waited with our first.  But when she was approaching 8 years old, I wasn't going to wait any longer and I imposed 'forced' daily phonics lessons.... which she disliked, but now she is a real book lover.  Shortly after I taught her to read, my second child asked to learn to read.  She was only 5 years old, but I was happy to teach her of course.  With only about 2 months of daily lessons using a phonics reading set, she was reading well.  After another month or two, there was no point in even sitting to listen to her read because she could read anything... this was before her sixth birthday.  She has loved to read all along, and everything else school related comes easy to her too.  And I really believe that all that listening to stories as a baby (even if they were intended for my older child) has had a really positive effect of her.  And that's my experience with reading to a baby.

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