Hidden Treasures of Reading Together

Do you enjoy reading books with your little one? Do they like to read the same books over, and over, and over again? Fun fact, that's actually great for pre-reading skills!

When you sit down to read with your child, whether it's a fairytale, non fiction book, or other picture book, they are soaking in all kinds of great skills. From hearing you model how to read fluently, to learning new vocabulary, to understanding how to turn pages and how text is read from left to right, it's ALL amazing for their learning. Just like my post earlier this month about making time and using time with your child to enjoy them and help them learn, reading together is another one of those "you're probably already doing it" things.

Here's what I mean. Just reading a book together packs in tons of learning, bonding, and important moments for children. We have been reading with my son since he was a newborn and at not even a year old, he knows how to turn the pages, lift the flaps and always checks to see if it's a touch and feel book. It's quite amazing to see him get a book and sit down with it, right side up, and look through it quietly at such a young age. But that just goes to show that exposure is EVERYTHING. He enjoys looking at books because adults in his life have spent time reading with him, and he now has book handling skills (a kindergarten expectation). He has a lot of practicing to do and stills throws them on the ground when he's done but luckily we have some time before he starts Kindergarten to get that one mastered!

On a more serious note, book handling skills are an early pre-reading skill that we taught first thing in Kindergarten because there were actually a few students each year who did not know how to handle books appropriately. So, long story short, any and all reading that you do is important. Keep up the good work!