Reading to our children is one of the most important things we can do with them. Being a former elementary school teacher I have seen first hand the positive effects of early literacy exposure in children. A parent, or caretaker, reading to a child cannot be replaced by anything; not a television, iPad, or cellphone. Even though there are tons of wonderful programs available to read to our children, we shouldn’t use it as a replacement. As parents we should try to read to our children as much as possible.
The statement usually arises, “I don’t have time to read to my child!”
I get it, life is busy. But it is up to us to MAKE the time to read to our children. At our house it is incorporated into our routine and you can easily find ways to incorporate it too!
On days I am home with the twins we try to have reading time at least once during the day. We’ll simply stop what we’re doing and go in to the twins’ bedroom where all of their books are stored to pull out a few books. Sometimes reading time will last five minutes and sometimes we get lost in books and stop reading after twenty minutes. It really just depends on the day and the mood of the twins.
Every night before the twins go to bed they each get to choose a book or two to have read to them. We rarely stray from this routine as it is precious time with them. They’ll snuggle up in our laps and hang on to every word we speak, and sometimes they’ll know every word we’re going to say!
In the car, grocery shopping, or waiting at a sibling’s activity provide great opportunities to have your child look through a book. I know, you won’t be reading to them, but it’s a wonderful time for the child to dive right in to a good book and point things out to you! I always try to have books and small toys on hand when I know the twins will need to be occupied.
All of that said, I’ve rounded up some of our favorite board books for toddlers. We have tons of paper books too but they aren’t used on a regular basis in our house yet, the twins would more than likely demolish them. Board books are wonderful quality, they are tough, and toddler hands can easily turn the thick pages.
That’s a quick round up of some of the twins’ favorite board books. Is there such a thing as too many books? I sure hope not because I’m guessing we’re skating on thin ice with that one.
Enjoy the time you spend reading with your little one! You’ll create moments that will last forever.
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Kate
March 21, 2018Some family favorites and some I have heard of, will have to look into these!