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I remember the first gift I opened at my baby shower was a book about how to get your children to sleep at night and a book on why children need to love to read. The first book did us no good. Our oldest still doesn’t sleep as much as I wish she would… and she is 15 years old now. But the other book on reading really got out attention. The only problem was that it didn’t tell us how to raise kids that would love to read, only that it was important for them to love it.
Then our daughter was born over 6 weeks early and everything we thought we would do went out the window. We felt like we were in survival mode. It took us a couple months to settle into parenthood and get our new normal up and going. Reading to our daughter became part of our new routine. We noticed that she immediately calmed down when we did and before we knew it she was trying to say the words with us.
She said her first word at four months old. We were in the elevator at the hospital when a doctor walked in and she said hi to him. He jumped back and asked if she really just said hi. Then she looked him right in the eyes and said it again! Fast forward a few years and she shocked everyone when she was reading chapter books before her 5th birthday. Reading has always been her favorite thing to do and she has learned so much from the stories she has read.
First 5 California knows how important the early years of childhood are to a child’s development and they want you to remember to “Talk. Read. Sing.®” every day with your child. I couldn’t agree more.
Here are my Tried & True Tips To Raise Reading Loving Kids!
1. Make reading part of your every day routine. Pete was really good about reading Maddie a book every night before bed. It was something that they both looked forward to.
2. Let them pick the book. Introduce new books often… but ultimately let the child decide what they want to hear. We still have her favorite book that she would insist he read to her 10 times before she would even think about going to sleep.
3. Find topics and stories that interest your child. Some kids really love fairy-tale adventures, where others really love more more reality based nature stories. We’ve learned it doesn’t matter what you read them… just as long as you are reading together.
4. As soon as they can talk let them help read the story. It’s amazing how much they can memorize or what creative ideas they can come up with. Let them read the book to you (even if there isn’t much real reading involved).
5. Act out the book. If the book is about cooking, take it into the kitchen and act it out together as you read it.
6. Take a book with you wherever you go. Teach them that a book is the best “go-to” toy around.
7. Collect books on your vacations. When we visit a new place we always buy a magnet to remember our time there, and we also buy the girls books. Maddie loves books about the history of an area and Ashley normally wants one about the more modern times. Either way there is something for everyone. Even Emmy gets in on it and either gets a coloring book or a chapter book.
8. Don’t push one sort of book on a child. As they get older they might not like the same books as everyone else. Let them explore the different types. There are magazines, comics and reference books. Find what interests them the most.
9. Let books lead your discussions. We always talk about the stories we are reading as we read them. We’ve had some amazing conversations about adventures people are taking in books and where we want to go and what we want to see.
First 5 California is on a statewide mission to inform, educate and inspire parents and caregivers to talk, read and sing to their little ones starting from the day they are born.
Science tells us that 90% of the brain is formed by the age of 5, and recent research also reveals that more than 80% of a child’s brain is formed by age 3. As you know from being a parent, these early years are the most formative and life-impacting. You want your child to have a larger vocabulary not only do better in school, but are significantly less likely to make poor choices in the future.
The experts at First 5 California refer to the brain as a muscle that needs exercise – and that means “working out” through talking, reading and singing regularly. Talking can be as simple as narrating the day; reading doesn’t always need to be via books; recipes, newspapers and road signs are great (aim for 30 min/day total – can be broken up into 5-10 min increments throughout the day) and singing doesn’t require carrying a tune (First 5 California has a great children’s radio station on Pandora that can help!).
We want to tell mothers, fathers, grandparents and caregivers across the state how much power they have over their children’s futures, and it all starts with three little words that have lifelong impact.
The First 5 California website as a great resource for activities for newborns, babies, toddlers and preschoolers. There’s a whole section (Activity Center) on things that parents can do with their kids to help stimulate the mind.
I actually hate reading myself, but lucky for me both of my boys really love it.
I always give books to little ones for their birthday. It might not be their favorite gift but I love being able to give them the option to read and excel!
These are great tips. It’s so important to instill a love of reading in children early on.
We started my son on reading early. We read lots of bedtime stories with him, and when he was old enough to start reading himself, we let him pick out whatever looked interesting to him.
We did that too. At 10, kiddo heads right to the young reader, tween section with the vampires, zombies and witches. LOL
We always allowed our children to pick out a book apiece every night for us to read to them before bed. They still enjoy reading!
Everyone in my house loves to read. I have been reading to my kids since before they were born and I continued to do it until they learned to read on their own. They love reading to me now.
I love your ideas. We did some similar things for our kids! They both had completely different tastes in literature!
My sister read to my niece and nephew from the time they were little. She also made sure that they picked out their own books. That’s the best way to keep them interested.
These tips are great and encouraging children to read is so important. We visit the library every couple of weeks and my kids always enjoy picking out new books.
I loved to read to my daughter when she was little. Acting out the book was one of my favorite things to do.
Mine too! I can’t say I was good at it but the kids seemed to enjoy it.
I wish my children loved to read more. We are a homeschool family, it would be so ideal if they just had their noses in books all the time!
Your kids are too cute!!! I’ve always loved reading and I hope my future children do too one day! : )
xo Adriana
What great resources! My little guy is learning how to read and we love all of the great resources that we are able to find.
I want my kiddo to be a good reader! He is just starting to read and he seems to like it. I never did and I don’t want him to be like that.
This is really great!! My kiddos all love to read, but sadly one of them is very far behind and doesn’t love it at all. She used to but the schools really messed her up and now we are trying to catch her up.
Such great tips! My daughter ALWAYS has a book in her hand. We are very literate in this house!
Reading is so important! We try to make it a point to read to the kids every day. I really like the tips you shared, some of those will be especially helpful as my son learns to read more!
The first photo is so precious it melts my heart and bring smile to my face. Baby is a gift from God and I can’t wait to receive mine soon 🙂
This is super-cute. We have been reading to our kids since they were little and have always had a full library for them. Now they are older and love books… 🙂 I love the idea of Talk, Read, and Sing 🙂
I love these tips, I have read with my kids since they were born and now they all love books (some more than others) but it is wonderful to instill a love of books in kids because it keeps them creative and thinking deeper, I believe.
Reading is so important for learning and also to amplify our children;s world and vocabulary all are great tips!
It’s so great to have kids who love reading. My daughter adores reading.
Some excellent suggestions. Thankfully we have two kids who LOVE to read… and pretty much always have a book with them wherever they go.
That is how my daughter is. She always has a book with her!
We love reading stories to our kids and letting them tell us stories too. Tonight we read like 6-7 books together and had 2 stories. One of which my son practically narrated himself lol. Love the pictures so cute!
It is so important for kids to read. there are so many amazing books to catch there attention. We always had reading time before bed. My kids are teenagers now and still get excited to go to the book store.
These are great tips on getting your kids to love reading. We love to sit and have reading time. My kids love to go to the library and pick out books.
Our kids love to read. It make me happy that they love reading so much.
Wow! What an exceptional little girl you have there! I’m a huge reader and my daughter is following in my path 🙂 It’s hard these days with the distraction of iphones and ipads so readily accessible, to focus on reading, but it’s SO important!
What a cute baby! Reading to your kids is one of the best things you can do!
First 5 California is an amazing resource! I love the free kits they have at the local library for new parents. These are great tips to encourage a love of reading with babies.
I read to my little brother before and loved it. When I have children, this is definitely going to be a part of the routine.
These are wonderful tips. I read to my kids every night until they were old enough to read on their own. They loved it and they grew up loving books.
Wonderful tips! I want my children to love reading because it is such an important part of education, and more importantly, learning.
I always enjoy reading to my grandkids. I read all the time to my kids when they were little also.
I enjoyed reading to my kids then, now I enjoy reading to my grandkids. It’s important that we encourage our kids to read.
These are great tips!!It It is so important for kids to read
I love these suggestions too. I follow more of the Waldorf philosophy with my kids at home and rythym is very important. We sing, read and create 🙂
When kiddo was younger we read to her every night. I would really get in to the book too. As she learned to read, she started to read to us. Now she has to read every day for school and I am thankful she actually likes it now.
Now that my kids are a bit older, they do read their own books especially my daughter who can’t sleep without reading a chapter with her favorite book.
My mom was pretty adamant my sister and I read regularly. Now I love to read and so do my kids.
These are great tips. I grew up loving to read. My mom always let me pick out the book.
Your daughter is adorable! Love your tips about kids and reading. It is so important for them to learn how to read. It definitely gives them a head start in life and they will learn so much, as you said your daughter has.
Reading everyday definitely instills great learning! These are great reminders for me and my kids
We always read with the kids but my son still didn’t love reading. As he got a little older we found out that he enjoyed any book about baseball so that’s how we got him to begin to be a book lover.
Acting out the book is a good idea. And I Love that sweet smiling baby face.
My oldest child loves to read, but it takes some persuading with the next one. I will definitely try out these tips to make it a more enjoyable experience for us both.
We definitely need to do more to encourage our kids to read! We read a coupe books at night but we need to get the kids more involved with it!
Great post. I can’t relate, but I enjoyed you sharing your experience.
I really need to encourage more reading with my toddler. She loves learning via the ipad especially her ABC’s but she’s not big into story books. 🙁
These are wonderful tips! I have always had a love for reading, and I have passed my love for reading to both of my children.