It’s never too early to start
Babies who are read to every day on average perform better at school and have higher levels of well-being. When you read to your baby, they hear you using many different emotions and expressive sounds – this supports social and emotional development. It encourages your baby to look, point, touch, and answer questions. Your baby improves language skills by copying sounds, recognising pictures, and learning words.
- Read aloud for a few minutes at a time, but do it often. Before nap time and bedtime is perfect, when you and your baby a chance to cuddle and connect. However, reading can be done at any time of day!
- Read with expression, make your voice higher or lower where it’s appropriate, or use different voices for different characters.
- Join your local library – they have great advice & book recommendations, and you’ll have a new supply of books to enjoy! You are welcome to borrow books from the Cub lending libraries too.
- Get other family members involved. Storytime is something that everyone can enjoy, and it’s a great way to bond
As your child gets older
Reading for pleasure is a key indicator of a child’s future success. In fact, studies show it’s more important for a child’s educational success than the socio-economic class they grow up.
- Ask your child to choose what to read – they will be more interested if they have picked it themselves! They might prefer non-fiction and information books as they get older – all reading material is great!
- Sit close together and encourage them to turn the pages
- At nursery, we introduce the title, the author and the illustrator before we read every story – if you do the same, we will help them understand the structure of books.
- Ask questions about the book. Picture books can be a great way to talk through your child’s fears and worries or help them deal with emotions.
Encourage a love of reading
As children get older, with lots of other activities competing for their time, how can you encourage them to make time for reading?
- Give books as presents and encourage your children to swap books with friends.
- Have a family bookshelf for you all to enjoy!
- Children learn from repetition, so don’t be afraid of reading the same books over and over again!
