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If you talk to your child and hold conversations from the time your child is very
young, your child is more likely to succeed in school. Language skills help children
with almost all other kinds of learning. And while your toddler may seem to learn
language without any "teaching," there are many things that you can do to help your
child become a skilled speaker and listener. One of the most effective things you can
do is to have fun reading to your child every day. Here are some of the most important
things your toddler will learn when you read together:
- Your child will learn to use and understand many new words.
Children like to hear books read to them over and over again. Because of this,
they have lots of chances to repeat and use the new words they meet in books. They
also hear language that is a little more complicated than every-day talk when we
read to them.
- Your child will learn many things about the world.
Children learn things in books that they can't experience in their daily lives:
names of exotic animals, a close-up look at exciting vehicles, what it is like to
live in the city (or country), etc.
- You and your child will enjoy talking and listening together.
Sturdy, interesting board books lead parents and children to take turns pointing
to objects, lifting flaps, counting and repeating words. As you read together, your
toddler will begin to ask, "Where? Who? Why? What?" This helps build your
child's ability to listen and make conversation.
- Your child will learn that we have to look at the print (letters and
words, not just the pictures) when we read.
Even toddlers will pay attention to letters and numbers, if we sometimes point
to them while we read. Many books for toddlers have words hidden under flaps; and
it is easy to point to them as we read them. Soon your toddler will be imitating
you, and point to the words "all by myself!"
- Your child will learn to listen for and enjoy particular sounds in
words.
When we read poems and nursery rhymes, we should emphasize the rhythm and the
rhyming words. Children love hearing and joining in on this "fun" kind
of language. Children also love reading books about the sounds that things make.
Listening to, enjoying, and repeating these kinds of sounds makes a perfect
foundation for reading and spelling later on.
- Your child will come to enjoy books and being read to.
Children who like to be read to have a wonderful advantage when they go to
school. We can start our toddlers out right by making sure that they see book
time as:
- a special kind of fun where they can actively explore a book
(turn page, lift flaps, touch & talk)
- a special time with a parent or older child
- an important part of the daily routine.
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