It’s never too early to begin reading to a child. Even infants love the sounds of words in lullabies and rhymes.
Set aside some time for reading aloud every day. Let children snuggle close to you. That way, they will think of reading as a happy time when they have your full attention.
Your reading time doesn’t need to be long—10 or 15 minutes each day is fine.
Remember: if you read just one story a night to children, they will arrive in kindergarten with more than a thousand story-sharing experiences.
As you read, you can also boost a child’s thinking skills — and have fun.
Ask children to think about why something is happening in the story—or what they might do if they were in the same situation. For example, “What would you do if you were Little Red Riding Hood?”
When you’ve finished a book, ask children to think about how to change the story.
For example, “What would have happened if all three little pigs had built their houses of bricks?”
You can have fun with these questions. Even better, your children will be developing thinking and reasoning skills that lead to success in school.
