How to Read to your Toddler

Seriously? A whole post on how to read to your child?  Stay with me for a minute… there is more to reading to a toddler than you might think.  Considering Love Bug’s attention span can be about 15 seconds (including the time it takes her to pull herself up into my lap, because everything these days is “I DO!”) figuring out how to keep her interested long enough to make it through one book is actually much harder than it sounds.  Here are a few ideas:

The key is to involve them.  Find ways for them to interact with you and the book.

Focus on your child, not the words.  The day I gave up reading while reading was revolutionary.  There comes a time you might need to abandon the text for a while and play on your child’s attention and interest instead.  Reading should be fun.  Do what you need to do to make it fun for yourself, and it will most likely become more fun for your child.

Ask questions.  “Spot Goes to School” is a fun book with simple pictures and a simple story to analyze by asking a series of questions from page to page. 

Here is an example: 

What is spot doing here?  Painting, that’s right. 

Oh no! Did Spot make a mess? 

What colors does Spot have in his paint box?

Is spot using a paintbrush?

Oh, look, what are these animals doing?

You get the idea.  Expanding the story expands their attention, as well as their vocabulary and reasoning skills.

Let them lead.  If getting your child to sit still for reading is really a struggle, try allowing your child to choose the books, where to sit and when to turn the pages.  Ask open ended questions to help them engage with the images, characters and story.  

Wordless books can be great tools and help us move away from literal reading into analytical thinking.  Follow your child’s lead.  Ask them what they see, then build on their observations in much the same way as I described in the Spot book.

Example:

What is the bear doing in this picture? That’s right, feeding the birds. 

What is he feeding the birds? Yes, seeds.

What color is the bird?

Do you think the bird is hungry?

Make books come alive.  Another way to involve your child is with props.  Little figurines or puppets that match the characters in the book are great!  I brought a bag of little animals to the family where I nanny.  I let each child choose 3 animals, and then told them when they saw the animal in the book to shout it out the noise that animal says, show us the animal and put it into the bag.  This kept the attention of two toddlers and preschooler and even an infant for quite a while… and all the interaction with the animals revolved around the book, in this case, Eric Carle’s “The Very Busy Spider.”  

This is my Farm Animal Book Bin.  There are three books about farm animals and many farm animal figurines all together in one bin.  This bin is great for group story time and I also recently recorded all the books onto a playlist making it great Quiet Time activity.  

Felt boards can be great ways to make a book come alive.  Check out this post to see how I have incorporated our felt board into Love Bug’s learning. 

Make your child the star.  In these DIY storybooks your child is the main character and the story is a memory of something the child did in real life.This is such a fun way to document your own family outings.  Here is how I make them.

When your toddler looses interest in reading, don’t give up.  Show them that books are more than pictures and words on pages – they are a world to enter and be part of.  

Building a Library - Books, Books, Books!

This post is merely an invitation into our library.  There are SO many wonderful children’s books out there, the list below is just a few of them that happen to be the favorites found on Love Bug’s shelves.  A survey like this would have been really helpful for me before Love Bug was born when I was trying to prepare for her arrival.  Some of the things I talk about might seem obvious to some of you, but when I was a new mom, I remember feeling really overwhelmed, not knowing how or what to prioritize.  I hope this post will be a helpful tool for some other overwhelmed parents. 

I am hoping to cover a broad range of books by glancing at the various types of books, starting with the earliest age-appropriate types and working up from there. My mom and I are both thrift-shop fiends and so our library has been a budget-friendly mix of new and used.

Here is list of the types of books I will talk about in detail below.

1. Cloth Books.
2. Baby Faces.
3. Tiny Books.
4. Bath Books.
5. Touch and Feel.
6. Lift the Flaps. 
7. Body Part Books.
8. Wordless Books. 
9. Simple Story Books. 
10. ABC Books. 
11. Let Daddy Lead. 
12. Books with Props.

1. Cloth Books. 

Any fabric books with simple colors, contrast, pieces that make noise or have unique texture are all great for stimulating many senses in the early developing minds.  They also introduce page-turning. Something like this would be great. 

2. Baby Faces.  

Babies love looking at other babies.  We had this Global Baby Girls, and this MyFace Book.  From very early on, Love Bug loved looking at all these different babies from around the world.  These were the first books she pulled off the shelf and explored by herself, clearly intrigued by the little faces smiling back at her. 

3.  Tiny Books.

I found these for a few bucks at TJMaxx.  They are perfect for little hands.  These kept her busy in the car on many road trips.  She loved putting them in and out of the box and looking at each of them in detail. 

4.   Bath Books.
These are a great way to bring learning into the bath.  These are great, durable books that we still have for number two when the time comes.  They also serve as great “lily pads” for bath animals to stand on and float around.

    

5.   Touch and Feel Books.
Another way to engage multiple senses at a time and keep baby interested, these books provide many different textures for children to explore.

     

6.   Flap Books.
Opening and closing flaps to uncover creatures and objects is a fun way for our little ones to engage with the book and keeps them interested.

  

7.  Body Part Books.

After months of reading these to Love Bug when she was an infant, she started pointing to and saying the name of the body part as we read.  I realized she had been absorbing it all along.  I added movement and action as I read by kissing or tickling her toes, tummy, hands…etc.

8.   Wordless Books.

Love Bug found this at Goodwill.  I did not even realize it did not have words and was a folding book until we got home – for $1 I just let her get it without looking at it.  It is a really unique find.  The lack-of-words allows us the freedom to explore the pictures and tell our own story.  Grown-ups tend to get caught up in reading the words and we forget that looking at the pictures and analyzing what we see is just as important for little minds to expand their imagination and cognition. 

See my post How to Read to our Children for more ideas that go beyond the words.

9.   Simple Story Books.
Love Bug enjoyed the Quiet Bunny book early and I loved introducing her to the sounds of forest animals.  Spot Goes to School has simple images and simple story line, but the images are elaborate enough for us to expand on the story.  I ask questions like: Why do you think Spot is sad?  What is he doing now?  Oh no, did Spot make a big mess?

10.  Let Daddy Lead.
Bedtime books became a special time for Daddy in our daily routine.  He enjoyed reading the Goodnight World Series books to Love Bug,  and so she enjoyed them too.  We found a couple at second hand stores and then Daddy bought two news ones.  We keep them on a special shelf near the chair where she and Daddy read together.  He loved changing voices as he read in order to keep Love Bug interested.

11.  ABC Books.
These ABC books create a fun way to start introducing the Alphabet.  Pointing to the letters on each page help connect the pictures to the letters.  I found a fun way to make this "Icky Bug" book more interactive with plastic bugs. 

12.  Books and Props.
There are so many ways to make books interactive.  Mimi and I have been gathering puppets and animal and bug figurines for months.  TOOBS like these are wonderful for building book bins like the ones below.  I realized I had three books about farm animals.  I put “The Very Busy Spider”, “The Hat”, and “Who is Coming to Our House?” in a bin with all the farm animals plus an owl, spider and fly and this has become a special reading activity bin.  See my post about Recording your own Audio Books to see how I created a fun Quiet Time activity for Love Bug. 

Final Thoughts. Before you go out and spend lots of money on books for your child, let me say this; do not feel like you must to have your library all set up at once.  I gathered a few books from second hand stores, and then continue to add to those with other books I find along the way.  The type of book and/or title is not as important as finding books that you and your child enjoy.  So let her explore the books shelves with you and choose her new books.  Allow for variety.  Choose books that interest you too.  She will catch your excitement and be eager for story time. 

What are some of your family's favorite books? 

What to do if you suspect delays in your child

A reader has asked what she should do if she feels that her child is lagging behind developmentally…..it is very important that all adults caring for young children understand that normal is a very individualized process.  What is normal for one is not necessarily normal for others.  One six month old is sitting up shakily, while another is crawling across the floor to poke at the dog.  We look for progress in children… rolling over becomes rocking on hands and knees, then becomes pushing oneself into a sit, then a wiggling across the floor, then a crawl and finally a stand.  Timing is not as important as the progress.

 The same progress happens in literacy. Seeing parents becomes smiling and wiggling in recognition of them. Smiling makes way for gasps and sighs which open sounds for words and before you know it, your child is a veritable chatterbox.

         That being said, some parents will notice that their child is approaching 9 or 12 months and is not yet sitting up or crawling.  Or their child of 4 months is not responding when the parent comes close to them and talks and smiles.  Or their child of 15 months is not making any attempts to speak or make communicative sounds.  These are behaviors that we in the field of Early Childhood Education call red flags.  They are meant to get our attention and parents and caregivers need to act quickly and seek professional advice. 

         While it is very scary and emotional considering whether or not your child may have delays or special needs of one kind or another, it is very important that you understand that you are your child’s best asset, AND you are not alone. There are many resources out there to help you and your child move forward.  Parents sometimes hope the problem will go away if they ignore it.  Understand that the longer you wait to get help, the harder it will be for you and your child to catch up or work through things.  There comes a time when we as parents need to rise above our fears and emotions and confront the issues at hand. 

         These years of growth between birth and five are very important years in a person’s life.  They are key to all kinds of successful learning and leading a full and enriching life.  The sooner a child is put in touch with professionals who can assess growth in various areas and begin intervention in one or more therapies, the sooner the child can optimize their growth and development with enhanced interaction with her environment.  You are the key to the timing of all of this so here you go!  The steps for early intervention would be the following:

1. Talk with your pediatrician who should refer you to an agency in your state that is specifically established for assessing and providing intervention for children ages birth to 5. In some states they are called Child Development Services, in others they are called Early Intervention or some similar title, but they all have the same assignment.   Your pediatrician should know. If they do not, INSIST that they help you find out how to contact your state’s services for your young child.  These services are available to you at no cost, in most cases, especially with a referral from your medical home.  Most insurances also cover the costs of therapy.
2. Have your child assessed by the appropriate professional.  Do not wait!  Early intervention is key to overcoming many delays.  Turning a blind eye and pretending that there is not a problem will do nothing but exacerbate the problem and make early learning harder for your child.
3. Whatever therapy is designed for your child based on the findings of the assessments will need to be delivered on a consistent basis. There are often exercises or routines that can be done with your child at home and/or at her care facility that are meant to enhance the therapy that will be done by the specific therapist.
4. Remember that whatever the issue is with your child, she will still benefit greatly from all the activities that you will read here at Raising Early Birds and other child development sites.  She will enjoy being read, sung, and talked to and laughed with.  She will absorb her world and your offerings in the best way that she can and her brain will store much information till she is able to use it a later date.  Most of these great activities are enriching for ALL children- regardless of how they process it.  You as a parent may get less feedback from your special child but that does not mean that your child is not able to absorb the world through you!
5. Throughout this process READ READ READ as much as you can about whatever diagnosis you are given for your child.  Join support groups, talk with other parents of children with similar diagnoses, take good care of yourself so that you can be renewed on a daily basis and be ready and able to care for and stimulate your child.  Identify and use your support group for your own R&R (much needed Rest and Recuperation!)  This is when the village that we speak of as being needed to raise a child comes in very handy!