One of the most important Life skill that can be developed from early years is – READING !
Reading can begin from an early age of 6 months. Initially make the child sit in your lap and read the book as though you both are reading it together. As the child sees colorful pictures, he will develop the interest to sit and listen to you. Here, his visual skills are developing.
As the child grows, his attention span increases and is able to sit in one place for some time.
Read to the child:
1. Show him the cover of the book – Before reading the book, show the cover of the book to the child and ask him questions about it. This is a great way to engage his interest.
2. Keep him focused – Young children get easily distracted. Start asking questions about characters in the book or ask him to predict what will happen next? This will test their interest and enhance predictive skills.
3. Assess his new skills – As you are reading along, a new word comes up, ask him to guess the meaning of it. You also need to repeatedly ask questions. This enhances language and thinking skills.
4. Make it simple for him – While reading the story, breakdown big / complex sentences for him to understand it better.
5. Use Voice modulation – The characters in a story can be differentiated using different voices for each character. This helps the child to picturize the story. When the story comes alive, he will be thrilled to listen to it.
6. Ask for their response and reaction – Once the story is completed, ask the child what did he enjoy the most about the story? What is that he did not like in the story? If given a chance, what would he change in the story? This helps is building their confidence level and increases the oral fluency.
7. Different languages - Using a language that you are comfortable in, is a good way to start reading stories and Nursery Rhymes to the child. Being bilingual helps the child with understanding and recognizing syllables, phonics and letters.
It is absolutely normal if the child does not sit through the read aloud but you continue to read as he is listening unintentionally. Here, his listening skills are dominant.
Reading stories with the child is beneficial for the adults too. The special time you spend reading together helps to build your relationship with the child.
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