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Reading With Kids

© Holly Gumpher

My sister was 7 years old when I was born. She was not exactly thrilled to have me join the family. After all, she had been the baby for 7 years, and she really wasn't ready to give up her position. My mother suggested she put her new reading skills to use and read to me, a captive audience, as a way of getting to know me. This she did, long past the time that I was an infant. I don't know if that time spent reading had a lasting effect on my sister, but I know that it did for me. I love words, and I love to read. I married a man who also loves to read, and now we are sharing that with our children.

I started reading to our oldest child the day we brought her home from the hospital. Yes, I had read about the importance of a mother's voice in the bonding experience and how reading to your child from birth (or before) could increase their intelligence, but I read to her that day solely because I couldn't wait to read the stories from my childhood again to a new generation. I started her out on Richard Scarry's Best Stories Ever, which had been mine as a child, and a collection of Winnie-the-Pooh tales. Eventually we switched to picture books until she was old enough to sit and listen to a full length storybook, but in those early days, when she was content just to be held and hear my voice, I chose the stories based on what they meant to me.

When our second child was born, I learned to juggle a toddler, an infant, and a stack of books on my lap. Learning to stand up without the clatter of falling books waking two sleeping children was even more of a challenge! By their first birthday, both of our kids were bringing us books from the shelf and requesting time in "the big red rocker" which is where we do most of our reading.

So what if you didn't start reading to your kids immediately and they aren't already hooked on books? Is it too late? What if you're not particularly hooked on reading yourself, or just don't know what constitutes good children's literature? Do you feel like life's already too busy to squeeze in 15 to 30 minutes of reading with your child everyday? Read on......

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