Fairies and foxes and witches and whales can all be found in lovable children’s books and fairy tales, and conjur up images in our minds of stories we have read and remember, from way back in our childhoods. It may have been the good witch or the naughty fox, but either way a tale was told and the characters came alive for us in those pages. Books are wonderful and reading to your child is such a rewarding and special experience to be practiced regularly. It promotes brain development and imagination, language and learning….all so vital in early childhood development.
Developing a love of reading in your child from an early age, will bring amazing rewards as they grow up! It’s worth getting in the habit of reading at least one story together at bed time, as it will strengthen your relationship and give you such special bonding time, while your child learns so much in each story lovingly enjoyed together. Mention story time to most children, and the excitement starts building about what the story will be and in my school, they all wanted to help get out the picnic mat for story time, and help choose a shady spot in the garden where they would listen to the chosen stories. Even just paging through a picture book and chatting about the pictures can be rewarding and exciting and so interesting to hear what they have to say about the pictures viewed.
Also, telling stories or fables from your culture or others, can be a wonderful way to interact and learn new things. Singing songs, which so often involve a story, is also a lovely way of enjoying stories and rhyme and having wonderful fun and happy times together. Children love action songs especially!
Stories and poems with good rhyme, rhythm and repetition are always enjoyed and I would sometimes wait for the children to finish certain lines when reading this sort of story to them – they loved shouting out the missing words, and it is best when rhyming as it helps them remember the words more easily. It helps them get to know sounds and words and develops their language and literacy skills. They love repetition and their favorite books can be read over and over again and they love it! They cannot get enough, and I must admit, I never tired of their favorites either, as the joy and excitement as I read those stories was wonderful to see and hear! I remember a few of those stories now, about a dinosaur, and about a chicken – and I can picture the kids sitting on the mat in the garden just loving every minute before home time, as I read those stories for the umteenth time, with always the same excited reactions!! Of course, lift the flap and 3D story books for kids are hugely popular, where they can get involved in the story helping lift the flaps to see what is hiding behind them or having 3D creatures unfold as pages are turned….books can be so entertaining, so take the time to read to your child(ren)!
Books can help your child build emotional and social skills too, as they learn how their favorite characters deal with different situations and they learn communication skills as they see how the characters communicate with eachother in the story. There are so many opportunities in reading stories and singing to children, to teach life lessons and skills, so it’s essential to make it a daily activity and part of their routine. They spark imagination and a curious mind, encourage concentration and brain development – all so important to the growing child. Of course, it helps immensely if one can read well, and especially if one enjoys reading too, because there will be much reading to be done at school and in tertiary studies in order to get through, and then throughout life, the joy and pleasure in being part of a book club or just being able to curl up with a good book in bed or on a rainy afternoon, has to be one of life’s greatest pleasures!
When story time comes, choose a book together when your child is old enough. Use funny facial expressions and make appropriate noises and sounds as you read – this makes it all more real and encourages them to really listen and it’s fun too. Ask your child to perform some actions or make some sounds like the characters in the book are doing. This encourages participation and involvement, as does asking your child about what is happening and relating things in the book to what they do at home or at the park etc too. Encourage them to think about what may be on the next page, and what they think will happen next etc. This helps them develop their imagination and come up with suggestions and solutions etc.
The value of books and teaching children about this, cannot be overestimated. As I always say, wise people read, so read to your children! The more you read to them, will hopefully lead them to developing a love for reading themselves, and with it a thirst for knowledge, which they will take with them through life! It is such a wonderful, life long and priceless gift for any child to have.