Happy Family Literacy Day! There has been a whirlwind of activities this week in Hamilton to celebrate and promote literacy in our community. We started out with a kick-off party at Image Honda where the Hamilton Public Library brought in Turkey Rhubarb to entertain and a children’s author to do a book reading. Then we had “Snuggle Up and Read” day at the kids’ school where I volunteed to make hot chocolate and distribute cookies and then got to snuggle with my daughter for story time.
Children really do love story time. Isn’t it odd that research is showing that kids are losing their joy of reading as they get older? I wrote a post about it here. Did you know that children who love books tend to develop good literacy skills and have more success in school? I found some tips this week on how to encourage that love of reading in your kids.
- Choose a time when they are ready to read (ie: when they are calm/comfortable)
- Choose materials they are interested in
- Turn off the TV while reading
- Ask questions throughout the reading (“how do you think Franklin is feeling?”)
- Change the sound of your voice for different characters
- Relate the story to your child’s experiences
- Praise your child’s interest in books
- Stop reading when they appear restless or push the book away
- Encourage your child to draw pictures to tell their own stories
- Talk about the story and answer any questions they have
I hope you find some time today to snuggle up and read with your little one. Click here for some other fantastic literacy based crafts and activities you might want to do.
This weekend we're having a Baby Book Club at Indigo in Stoney Creek - Check out the momstown online calendar of events for more details.
Great tips! I always liked this one too, I came across it years ago: never take away books as a punishment (so, don't threaten to skip a routine bedtime story if your child is misbehaving). I've long forgotten the argument that went with this rule, but the rule itself has stuck with me.
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