Reading aloud to your child is the most important thing you can do to get them interested in reading and learning. Before your baby can even speak, get in the habit of singing, reading, and speaking to them often. Teach your baby by pointing things out and explaining what you’re doing, and let them absorb sounds and ideas. Their language skills are already developing before they utter sounds, so you want to have daily conversations to them incorporating a wide vocabulary.

Books will help your child gain a more complex understanding of language compared to the short communicative style we tend to have when we speak to each other. So read to them as babies and continue to do so as they grow. They will get an understanding of grammar, storytelling, and vocabulary before they can even read on their own.

Another benefit: reading is an excellent opportunity to bond with your child and stimulate their creative thought process and emotions. Illustrations also help children connect concepts and introduce ideas. You should read at least 20 minutes a day to your child. Try doing it at different times of the day, like at mealtime, nap time, bedtime, or just snuggling on the couch. Act out the stories and use props and hand motions to make it more exciting.

When you read aloud to your child, you are showing him or her you care about books and that learning is important and valuable. If you display a genuine interest and excitement, they will too. This will help them achieve the scholastic and interpersonal skills they need in life.

More Reading Tips That Can Benefit Your Child:

• Assist them in mastering their ABCs.

• Help them understand the meaning and definition of each word.

• Teach them concepts through illustrations.

• Increase their vocabulary.

• Help them to learn uncommon words by breaking them down in phonetics and phrasing.

• Develop attention span, listening, and memorization by asking questions about the subject matter and having them repeat after you.

• Emphasize rhythm, tones, and inflections of your voice while reading.

• Prep them to read on their own.

Here is a List of Popular Books to Read with Your Child:

• Corduroy by Don Freeman

• The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

• Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy E. Shaw and Margot Apple

• The Family Book by Todd Parr

• If I Built a Car by Chris Van Dusen

• Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

• Free to Be … You and Me by Marlo Thomas

• Where the Sidewalk Ends: The Poems and Drawings of Shel Silverstein

• Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish

• Fancy Nancy by Jane O’Connor

• Heidi by Johanna Spyri

• Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

• The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

• Hans Christian Andersen: The Complete Fairy Tales and Stories

• We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury

• Any Dr. Seuss books

• Any Roald Dahl books