How to Help Your Child Love to Read

Helping to instill the love of reading in your child has wide-ranging benefits, and studies suggest that you can’t get started too early. Even babies respond to and benefit from the soothing tones of stories being read aloud to them. Those children who are read to regularly from birth tend to develop larger vocabularies and deeper language comprehension. Help bolster your child’s love of reading and learning by reaching out to Stepping Stones Together today. 

Reading Builds a World

The publication EducationWeek shares that, while there is no wrong way to read to your young child, there are better ways to engage in what is known as active reading. It is less about the process of reading and more about the world that reading opens up for readers and listeners alike. Reading should be an exploration – and not a chore. It’s not a race from cover to cover but is, instead, a journey forward that you and your child of any age can take together. 

Best Steps Forward

Some important points to keep in mind in your efforts to help instill a life-long love of learning in your children include:

• There is no wrong way to read to your children. If you enjoy the experience, it’s very likely that your young child will, too. Make reading a fun, comfortable experience that draws your child in, which can be as simple as scheduling a read before or after naptime, after a bath, and/or before bed. 
• There is no magic number regarding how many minutes you should be reading to your little one each day. Let him or her be your guide. The goal is to engage your child in the story and the reading process, and you’ll recognize engagement in your child’s body language and in his or her eyes – not to mention verbal engagement. 
• Asking questions as you read helps to draw your child into the reading process and to make him or her part of the story itself. Even children who are too young to engage verbally can participate. The idea is to transcend the process of you reading to your child and to create a more organic experience involving you, your child, and the story itself. 
• In your reading journey with your child, don’t be afraid to include poetry and songs that play with words, word patterns, rhyming, and more. This is a great way to expand your child’s world of language. 
• Building a home library for your child helps to cement the important role that reading plays in your family and provides your child with the opportunity to pick up a book whenever he or she would like. When you make reading a family value, it’s far more likely to play an enduring role in your child’s life. 

Help Develop Your Child’s Love of Reading with Stepping Stones Together

Stepping Stones Together takes an interactive approach to engaging young readers and instilling a life-long love of reading in the process. We offer a free 7-day trial – with no risk involved – sign up today.