When my children were incredibly young, I started to teach them words and build language skills by singing to them. I knew several nursery rhymes and learned to add fingerplays from attending baby storytime at our public library. Fingerplay can improve memory and enhance fine motor skills. I also found a variety of children’s music from the library that we borrowed and would listen to on car rides. We all learned new songs this way.
As my children got a little bit older, we started creating a library of books for them. They received books for their birthdays and different holidays. I created book baskets and eventually bought a bookshelf as the collection grew. I discovered book rotations are important and still rotate books monthly at home. Whatever books are in the book baskets are available, and the ones on the bookshelf are for storage and will be back in rotation the following month.
Visiting the library weekly or every other week is part of our routine. We try to attend weekly storytime and choose a variety of books to bring home and enjoy. We use these books for our nightly storytime. Spending time together with books is a fantastic way to show love before everyone goes to bed.
Before I started homeschooling my children, I labeled things in our house in multiple languages. We would point out letters in the words and teach vocabulary this way to foster a bilingual home. It is amazing how quickly children can pick up two languages at such an early age!
Sometimes, time is short, but there are still ways to be sure that your children are hearing stories daily. We have a handful of audiobooks on compact discs. We also have Me Readers that come as a set of books with a little tablet and when you press the different buttons, the different books play aloud. We sometimes watch storytime online and see actors reading and acting out books. Recently, I heard another mother mention Tonies, and they seem like another great option for sharing books aloud.
As my children continue to grow, we enjoy reading recipes when we bake together, looking at magazines to learn new craft projects and seeing the latest Lego sets, and discovering interesting facts from encyclopedias and non-fiction books. It has me starting to read my own books for enjoyment. Picking up a book from my bookshelf is a relaxing way to spend time each week.
Since I have been enjoying reading so much in the last year, I decided to start my own Book Club with other mothers in the area. I hope that you have found reading to be a beneficial activity with your children and that you are carving out time for yourself to enjoy your own books as well.
