Raising a Reader

We all know and agree that reading is an important part of life. I am an avid reader. I read just about any type of book. I absolutely love it. Reading is a great escape, a wonderful free vacation, a terrific way to expand your knowledge, and a special way to spend time with your children.

When I found out I was pregnant, one of the first things I decided was that I would raise my child to be a reader. From the moment she was born I have worked towards that goal and now 8 years later she has a great foundation for being a life long reader. We spend time just about every night reading aloud to each other, which keeps her interested in reading and also happens to be great quality time.

The key to raising a reader is to start early, as soon as the child is born, in fact. It truly never is too early to start as a child develops literacy skills long before they are able to read. The actions you take or don’t take right from birth have a lasting impact on your child’s reading skill. The American Academy Of Pediatrics even realizes the importance of building early skills and recommends that Doctors prescribe reading activities with each regular check up.

The first thing I did was to constantly talk to my daughter from the day she was born. I know most people do that but they usually talk “baby-talk”. While that is cute, it is not helping the child with literacy skills. It is important to use a normal tone of voice and adult language. If you have trouble deciding what to say simply vocalize every thing you do.

I would always talk when driving since my daughter was in the back seat facing away from me. I hate that about infant seats even though I understand the importance of it. As we were driving I would simply give a play by play.

For example: We are turning left onto Roger Road and heading west on our way to the library. Oh look, we just passed the Head Start building and are coming up to the stop sign at Fairview.