I'll bet you had a list of favorite books when you were a child. Maybe it was a book that spirited you away to new worlds or introduced you to a character you admired. Maybe you loved the sound of an adult reading to you as you got ready for bed. Perhaps it was the discovery that the words strung … [Read more...]
Using Facial Expressions in Reading to Help Your Child Learn About Emotions
Reading out loud to your child should be fun for both of you! The more personality and drama you can put into your reading, the more entertaining it will be—and the more your child can learn. This is especially true in helping your child learn about emotions. You can help your child develop in this … [Read more...]
5 Solid Reasons to Read to Your Toddler
Imagine this: Dinner and bath time are finished. Teeth are brushed. Your 2-year-old—all warm and clean-smelling, in footie jammies—toddles over with her favorite book in her hand. You settle into a comfy rocker with your little one on your lap to read a bedtime story. You know how rewarding it can … [Read more...]
Bonding Through Books: One Thing All Babies (and Moms) Need
The other day, my 9-year-old son asked me who the original writer was of the Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes. He wanted to know if there was a real woman long ago who had the unfortunate luck to marry a man named Mr. Goose. Perhaps she had birthed many children and lived in a house so small it felt, and … [Read more...]
How to Choose the Best Books for Babies
When choosing books conducive to the benefits of reading to babies, there are no hard and fast rules. There are books that are specially designed for certain stages of development, but anything is fair game so long as you keep a few important rules-of-thumb in mind. Follow these … [Read more...]
5 Reasons to Read to Your Baby
You wouldn’t wait until your baby started forming words and sentences before talking to him or her—so why hold off on introducing the joys of reading to your little one? The benefits of reading to children have been proven by hundreds of studies led by education experts. Although most of the … [Read more...]
Sunday’s Story Surprise
As a parent, you want only the best for your children, and in this mom's opinion, reading to your children is one of the most important things you can do from an early age. It's right up there with keeping them safe from harm and providing for their basic needs such as food and water, clothing and … [Read more...]
Use your words!
My brother recently e-mailed me a story about his six-year-old daughter: Claire: Daddy, I really regret going on our trip to Canada and Niagara Falls. Daddy: Claire, you're too young to have regrets, but why do you regret it? Claire: Because on Webkins, if I don't work on my garden every day, it … [Read more...]
The Read-Aloud Handbook
Long before I became a parent, I read The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease. It planted a little seed about the importance of reading aloud that has influenced my parenting since my daughter was born. Oops! scratch that, since before my daughter was born. I read her Harry Potter in utero to help … [Read more...]