Aug 29, 2024
10 TIPS TO GET KIDS READING MORE
- Ask your child to read a book to you.
- Play a board game together.
- Take your child to get their own library card.
- Read newspaper comic strips or comic books.
- Ask kids to write a short story and read it out loud.
- Read and prepare a recipe together.
- Make bedtime stories a nightly routine.
- Play word games like reading tongue twisters, doing crossword searches, or unscrambling words.
- Take a book with you wherever you go, so you can read together at any opportunity.
- Keep a book on your child’s nightstand, so they are prompted to read if they wake up early.
BABY TALK
It’s never too early to begin reading to babies. In fact, reading to infants beginning at birth helps support their cognitive development and their bond with parents. It also increases the likelihood that parents will continue reading to children as they grow, improving language skills and concentration to prepare them for academic success.
Zero to Three, an organization focused on early childhood development, recommends these book-type guidelines for babies and toddlers:
Birth to 6 Months - chunky board books, soft fabric books and vinyl bath books
6 to 9 Months - board books with short, simple stories and colorful illustrations
9 to 18 Months - board books with simple stories, stories with rhymes and phrases that repeat, and stories with pictures of other babies and familiar objects like animals
18 to 24 Months - longer, slightly more complex stories; humorous stories; and stories featuring silly rhymes
24 to 26 Months - books with paper pages, nonfiction stories about things like animals or seasons, and books that discuss jobs
10 BENEFITS OF READING FOR CHILDREN
- More extensive vocabulary
- Improved language skills
- Critical thinking skill development
- Increased creativity and imagination
- Empathy development
- Understanding of the surrounding world
- Improved concentration
- Parent-child bonding
- Cognitive development support
- Improved social skills and interaction
Source: All For Kids / Children’s Bureau of Southern California, Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics
And Don’t Forget…
studies show that good reading habits in older adults can help improve memory, sharpen decision-making skills, reduce stress and protect against Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Sources: Mindlab International, Alzheimer’s Association, American Academy of Neurology
