Reading Time – Quality Time
Charlotte’s Blog
Yesterday I came home after a long day of teaching. I was lucky my husband had sorted out food so we could have
dinner straight away. After dinner I made time to read with both my boys.
Amir loves reading books, especially books with animals in it. He chose the book he wanted that evening and sat at
his little table and waited for me to sit next to him and read for him.
Recently I was watching a video at Parents.com about the importance of reading for and with young children. They
gave 7 tips that I would like to discuss.
1. While reading to new-born babies, choose books with High Contrast Patterns. Their eye-sight is still developing
and they are capable of seeing these patterns. The contrast helps them to focus and it helps them to develop their
eye-sight even more. From my experience, young babies also like to look at black and white pictures of their close
family. Amir loves to look at the black and white pictures we have in the house.
2. You don’t need to read a book from the start to finish, Amir loves just flicking through the pages back and forth.
3. Point to the things you see while you flick through the pages. Talk about the things you see in the pictures. Follow
their interest and talk about what they point out.
4. When you do point 3 above you automatically have a good starting point for a conversation. While you flick
through the pages, pointing out what you see, you can discuss everything. As conversations with little ones who
are not yet verbal are limited, I often sing a nursery rhyme or song that relates to what we see on the page.
5. Let your child explore the book. This is a challenging one because we like to keep our books for a longer period as
well, especially when you are working in a nursery setting.
A good way to protect your books is to cover them with contact-plastic or cover all the edges of the pages with
the wide clear tape, so it becomes more difficult to tear the pages. This way children can explore books more
independently.
6. If the child seems interested, you can read the story. It doesn’t matter if they do not understand all words yet, it
builds their vocabulary. I often tell the story by flipping the pages, but do not read the pages word by word.
7. Have fun! Make silly sounds. Both my children love to read as I always make funny sounds, imitate the animals
sounds, sing songs and make different noises for all the characters. It helps them to start communicating with you
by copying the sounds. Knowing all his animals sounds helped Amir to have telephone conversations with his dad
while we were away this summer, making the sounds when his dad mentioned the animal.
It doesn’t matter if you apply these tips at home or in your classroom. Create a routine where reading books
together is a priority, before bedtime or during quiet time in the nursery setting.
When I was working in a nursery setting I always used books to help children settle in. By sitting and taking time to
read and enjoy time together you create the relationship that is needed for children to attach.