Great Ideas

Many people believe that reading to a baby in the early years may not be worthwhile. How much do they get from the story? Is there a purpose behind the fun of reading to your baby? The answer is “Yes!” because reading is a way for you to communicate with your child. Following are five fantastic reasons to read to your child from the moment you discover you’re going to be a mom.

1. Get acquainted. You are more than a sophisticated incubator for the life growing inside of your body. Moms provide nourishment, comfort, and protection. Your baby likes listening to you speak, even though he or she only recognizes the sound of your voice. The tone and level of sound stimulates baby’s interest. Read emails, blog articles, the catalog, a novel, or childrens books out loud.
2. Encourage listening. Entering the world is a shock. Your voice, the one thing your child recognizes, adds comfort. Reading to baby develops listening skills.
3. Increase bonding. Set 10 to 15 minutes aside each day for holding and reading to your baby. It’s a fantastic way to teach a child that reading is a special time for the important people in his or her life. Hugging baby and laughing over the written word sends the message that reading time is fun. Cement the bond of family love regardless of what you read.
4. Introduce children’s books. In the beginning, the words you’re reading to baby make no sense at all. They do teach that language has a certain rhythm. Look for children’s books that have the same words because hearing them repeatedly develops language skills. Make the reading experience fun by changing the way each character talks. It’s a great game for you and inspires curiosity and interest in baby.
5. Develop vision. Books with colorful pictures cause your child to focus on the scene and identify different parts of the picture. Color, characters, landscaping, letters and numbers are things we all see daily. Favorite books usually have brilliant pictures and words that sound cheerful when read out loud.

Every minute of reading time is special. You’ll feel rewarded when you see the happy smile and hear the wonderful gurgling and laughing of your child.