Why Should I Read to My Toddler?

Why Should I Read to My Toddler?

You are not the only one who has ever asked the question, "Why should I read to my toddler?."  Many people have felt that it is useless as the child does not generally attend to the book anyway.  However, reading is essential to your child's educational future and the earlier you begin, the greater the chances of success.  I have talked before about the importance of reading to your children in the post Read, Read, and Read Some More.  Reading is so valuable and aids in developing many skills!  A few of the reasons include helping a child's imagination, teaching colors, shapes, and many other preschool skills, and in aiding to extend attention spans.  Regarding toddlers, there are several skills that they must develop before they will begin talking.  Reading will aid in developing and mastering many of those necessary skills.

This particular post is introducing a few of the books that I have found to be valuable for toddlers. Not only are these books great for tiny tots, but many older children also enjoy them.

One of my favorite books for children is Eric Carl's The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  Using this book, I have been able to help several children with gaining some imagination by pretending to eat the foods with the caterpillar, feeling very full, and snoring and curling up.  This gives children a great time to practice mimicking the actions of the very colorful and attractive character in the book.  WOW!  This is great because one of the main skills needed before a child will speak is understanding how to mimic.  This is a great book with many potential teaching opportunities.



I also suggest Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Eric Carl.  This is a very fun story that children can get involved in.  It is great to build anticipation and help extend attention.  I have also used this story to encourage turn taking activities by reading part of the book, asking what might be on the next page, and giving the child the chance to take a turn by turning the page.  This story encourages turn taking, eye contact, and joint attention.  It is also great to teach colors by matching and identifying.



Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd is also a well loved story by many children.  One very important pre-language skill that children need to learn is pointing and other simple signs.  This helps them understand communication better as they look for the tiny objects talked about in the story and gesture by pointing, when they have found them.  Goodnight Moon has a lot of pictures of small items that children can find while listening to the story.  It also helps them to understand new words that have meaning behind the words.



I can not emphasize enough how important reading is for children.  Children must hear words hundreds to thousands of times before they will begin to attempt to speak them.  And just hearing words is not enough.  Those words must have a positive experience attached to them - they must have meaning for the child.  For this reason, reading is an imperative part of language.  So have fun with the above mentioned books.  Chances are, your child will love them, especially if you get involved in the story with them and make it a pleasant experience that will be imprinted in their memories.

Good luck and have a lot of fun with your toddler by reading with them.  For ideas on how to make reading a more pleasant experience, refer to my article in this same blog called Read, Read, and Read Some More.  It provides a few ideas on how to help children enjoy story time.