When Reading to Babies. . .

I have some tips to help mothers / fathers start their baby on the path to reading readiness. This is a subject very close to my heart, because of my background in Early Childhood Education, early reading readiness can be started with the right encouragement from parents. The Parent needs to know what to do to get started. Hopefully, reading aloud to your infant started with pregnancy. I highly recommend Dr. Seuss ABC's, One Fish, Two Fish, and Hop on Pop. I also like Jamberry, a rhyming book. Any book with rhyming and bright pictures will work. Reading to your child should be a daily occurrence, for example before nap and before bed. Read the same story over and over with expression while pointing to the words. Talk about the story after reading together. Take your baby or child to the library once a week and attend the story time, almost every library has one for children. Read labels to your child, traffic signs, etc. Use varied vocabulary every day, do not use baby talk, made up words, and slang, this will confuse the child especially when they start to attend school (no one will understand what your child is talking about). I have seen too many children without a proper vocabulary be held back and have to attend special reading classes. Please pass this information on, the world will be a better place if parents start the learning process at home.