#8 – Read to your child & expect that s/he stay seated for an entire book

Reading to a child is a wonderful activity! We recommend that all parents read to their children every day from a very early age.

What are the Benefits?

Children love the sound of language and especially the voice of their parents. Reading books aloud to children stimulates their imagination and expands their understanding of the world. It helps them develop language and listening skills and prepares them to understand the written word. Plus, reading time is “together time,” and what can beat that?

Even after children learn to read by themselves, it’s still important for you to read aloud together. By reading stories that are on their interest level, but beyond their reading level, you can stretch young readers’ understanding and motivate them to improve their skills.

What’s the Best Way to Start?

• Start slowly with a short story. Read with feeling. It may not happen right out of the gate, but eventually, your enthusiasm will transfer to your child.
• Start easy. A child can sit through an entire book, but we would say that you must be thoughtful about the age of the child when choosing a story to read. For the very young child we would choose books that are reality based with beautiful illustrations.
• Start young… but it’s never too late. At just a few months of age, an infant can look at pictures, listen to your voice, and point to pictures on the pages. If this is started at an early age, the ability to sit for longer periods of time with develop.

Building Concentration

Ultimately, reading to your child helps build the critical skill of concentration. A child will always struggle if he cannot concentrate. Just because they are little does not mean you can’t start developing the concentration now. In fact, the longer you wait, the harder it is on the child.