“A capacity and taste for reading gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others”
--Abraham Lincoln
Your child loves to read, maybe you just don’t know it yet, or perhaps you haven’t yet shown him just how much he enjoys it. Reading at home is an important supplement to the curriculum taught in the classroom, and it prepares your child for success in the future. Take the time to read aloud together, experience new stories and keep it interesting, and always return to favorites. Research has found only advantages to reading with your child, and it will become a pastime you and your child will remember forever.
Even as an infant, just a few months old, your child can look at pictures, listen to your voice and point to objects on the pages. Follow your child’s learning pattern and point to the pictures as you say the names of the objects. This will guide them through their discovery and help them see that the pictures have meaning, and that your words associate with pictures and real-world objects. This technique teaches them how important language is and that words mean something.
“To read is to fly: it is to soar to a point of vantage which gives a view over wide terrains of history, human variety, ideas, shared experience and the fruits of many inquiries.”
Your baby will love the rhythm of your voice as you read, and the sound of language is essential for your child to be familiar with even before they notice the printed words on the page. Reading aloud to your child stimulates imagination and gives them new ideas about the world. As they grow, they develop listening skills and look for meaning behind the words scrolling across the page. As your child follows your pacing, your pauses and rhythm, they become acquainted with the sound of words, and the flow of reading. This will help them grasp the concept of reading when they are in school.–A.C. Grayling, Financial Times
Remember when your child started walking? What gave them the desire to stand and to move their feet? They learned from your example, and from the example of so many other walking children around them. Your child found that to survive in this world, to become independent and mobile, they needed to take that first step. After the first step they had to keep moving their feet. Your child practiced this task over and over again; until the wobbles went away and the uneasiness vanished. By giving your child a rhythm and story time, reading will become as natural and as necessary as walking. Give them the desire to grow and succeed in this world, show them how important reading is. 
Your life is hectic, things pile up throughout the day and your tasks as a parent are never ending. Take the time to sit and read with your child regularly. It does not have to be a large time commitment; first try to read for a solid 15 minutes, then work your way up until you find the right amount necessary for your child. If you have multiple children, make sure you spend some time reading alone with each of them. Each of them are at different levels of development and you need to pace their growth accordingly. Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t read as a family. Bring all of your children together for a bedtime story, the example you set will help all of your children see how good a book can be; and it’s the perfect way to wind down before going to sleep. Your commitment to reading sends an important message to your children, that it is enjoyable and that good things come out of books.
"Life-transforming ideas have always come to me through books."
--Bell Hooks
After you’ve finished a good book with your children, help them think about the message and meaning by talking about it. Remind them of the story when the book has been put away, it will help them understand that reading does not end when the book is finished, but that the story lives on in your mind and can be discussed. Let your child think about the stories they've read, give them time for the story to sink in. You may be surprised by their comments a few days later, demonstrating how great an impact a story can have on the mind.
To help your child develop early reading skills, here are a few pointers we take for granted as reading adults.
- Words and pictures are not the same. Point to the print as you read aloud.
- Words have meaning, and that is why we learn to read, to understand and find the meaning.
- When you follow the text with your finger, your child will see that we read left to right.
- Eventually your child will see that sentences are made up of words, and these words are separated spaces.
- There are capital letters that are big, and lower case letters that are small.
To conclude, reading is important to language development because:
- Reading the words encourages speech and language development.
- Your baby will learn the rules of language as you read to her.
- As you read, your children learn how to listen and concentrate on what’s being read.
- Reading helps your child prepare for school and success.
Remember these tips while reading to your child. These will help keep your child’s attention and show her what happens while you read.
- Hold the book you’re reading in a way that shows your child the words and pictures.
- Point to the sentence as you read so your child can see and follow along with you.
- Make your voice interesting and read short, simple sentences.
- Read nursery rhymes. Your child will learn that some words sound the same and that words are fun.
- As you find favorites with your child, read them over again. This will connect your child with a story and give a feeling of security and comfort.
