Read Books To Your Children

We just got back from the bookstore with the kids and I couldn’t be happier. It’s one of my favorite ways to spend a day with my children. Because I was read to as a child, I learned to love reading. Not only did it help me tremendously in school, it gave me an appreciation for stories and characters! I stopped reading for pleasure during my medical training. I was so time deprived that I read only to increase my knowledge base. Once I had children I began to look for books that I loved as a child, and it reawakened my love of a good story. I now make a conscious effort to turn the TV off and pick up a good book. My children see this and often imitate me. They sit for hours with books all around them and will look at the pictures and pretend to read!

How do you get your children to love to read? First and foremost you need to read to them. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that you start reading daily to your child at 6 months of age. I didn’t know a lot about reading and kids when I first started reading to my baby. She was all over the place and I was frustrated! She never let me finish the story. And when she did she wanted to hear the same book over and over again. I now know that that’s normal. Reading with your child is supposed to be enjoyable. You can embellish the story with sounds and funny noises. Don’t feel like you have to read every single word. Spice it up and pay attention to which part that your child likes. My 2 year old has trouble focusing so I play games with her. Sometimes in very detailed books such as Richard Scarry’s “What Do People Do All Day” I pick one character, such as the little worm, and see if my kids can pick him out on each page. I ask them to tell me a story about what he’s doing.

Read to your child at least 15 minutes a day. A bedtime story is a wonderful way to connect with your kids and helps them wind down from the day. The American Academy of Pediatrics has a great reading guide on their website (http://www.aap.org/). It’s called “Read Me a Story”. You can use this guide to help evaluate your children’s progress. It also gives suggestions on how reading skills can be developed. Reading to your children is one of the most important things a parent can do with their children. I read to my children to help them open their mind not only to information but to the wonders of other worlds.

Dr. Sheila Cason