Literacy starts well before a child can read. Foster a love of books in your children!
What’s your pleasure? Dr. Seuss, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Harry Potter … I was a Goosebumps girl myself.
If there is one thing that I know, it’s that reading is fundamental! Of all the characteristics I’ve actually passed on to my kids – the faces I make, the way I question everything, and the fact that I don’t listen – the one that I intend to pass on is my love of reading.
I believe in the power of literacy. Literacy gets kids through school, literacy allows kids to imagine through books instead of being imagined for through screens, and literacy paves the way for bright futures.
If there is one thing I can encourage parents to do, it’s to please read to your children! Early! I mean first months out of the hospital!
As a first-time mom, I made reading part of my son’s bedtime routine. I really think it calmed him to hear my voice before bed. To this day, I have no problems putting this kid to sleep. (Unless it’s naptime!)
I remember when my son was about 8-months, I would hear him in his crib trying to talk. It was like he was practicing words or trying to mimic the sounds and words he heard me saying. My son is now four, and he can read. Not extensively, but he has books that he can get through with no assistance, and he can write a few sentences. I’m very proud of him, given that he has yet to attend school. I think it has to do with early reading.
I have two children, and I have noticed that my younger daughter’s motivation is more so to keep up with her older brother, but she is just as familiar with books. The trouble with her is she does a bit more pretending with the words to try to keep up, but she too impressed people with how well she spoke at a young age. Again, I attribute it to early reading.
I mean we all have our thing that we will pass to our children. Maybe it’s art, maybe music. All of this is important. I just believe that reading can open so many doors for our children.
My mom read to me as a child, and obviously, it stuck. I can’t tell you how much I didn’t care for school, but because I could read well, I tested well and eventually made a career out of reading and writing. I want to give my children the same chance to excel.
I think this information is important to share because not all parents consider reading to children at a young age. It makes sense that, as hard as it is to keep another human alive, reading can be an afterthought.
I remember overhearing two men talking, and one was encouraging the other to be a better father. He told the father to start reading to his two-year-old daughter, and the father’s response was that his daughter was too young to understand. I don’t agree with this father’s thought, and I guarantee she has begun mirroring her father’s mannerisms and behaviors at two. I just wish she could be observing him reading.
Please Read!
Couple things before I go, “Read a book, read a book, read a MF’ing book!” Google it! Without the kids around.
Secondly, September 6 is National Read a Book Day. I encourage all of us to please start/continue reading to our kids on this day and every day. Reading can change lives.
