For World Book Day 2017, we’ve gone through the reasons why it’s important to read to your toddlers. From fairy tales to action adventures there are books out there that cater to every child’s interests! What book are you reading today?
Building relationships
Reading a story book with your child is one of the key ways to bond with your child. Children can recognise sounds from when they’re in the womb, and reading provides them with new and exciting experiences to share with their parents.
Helps with school
It’s long been known that listening to books being read helps children when they’re learning to read and write themselves. Reading during the baby and preschool years helps them to develop a higher aptitude for learning, which enables them to make better sense of maths, geography and other school subjects.
Develops their speech and verbal skills
By listening to mum and dad read throughout babyhood and toddlerhood, your child is learning critical language skills. They begin to recognise words and define them by hearing them in different sentences and contexts as well as making sense of phonetics at this early stage.
Skill of reading
By reading with mum and dad children learn that everything is read from left to right. This is not an innate skill but an important one for later writing and spatial awareness skills.
Better communication
When they listen to their parents read toddlers learn new ways to communicate with their peers, construct sentences and form words.
New experiences
Opening a new book is delving into a brand new experience every time, and a well written children’s book will have something new for your children to discover on every read. This enables the child to accept and adjust themselves to new experiences with an open, curious mind.
Concentration
Reading a book takes focus and concentration and if a child sees their parents staying with books till the end, they’ll want to copy that. Initially toddlers will be unable to stay put for the duration of the book, but with practice they will gain better memory retention, longer attention span as well as comprehension skills.
Shows how reading is fun!
Get practising those funny voices because they’re nearly as important as cracking open a book in the first place! Parents get to show their children who much fun reading can be, introducing new, funny characters and the exciting adventures they go on. Enthusiasm from parents shows children that reading is a treat, not a chore.
maternity & infant
Originally posted 2017-03-02 14:38:58.