A couple of weeks ago, Hopealso of Hippie Dippie Bebe, published this post on reading stories to her son Del and observing how he used baby signs to communicate his understanding of the story to her. While I had taught baby signs to Annabelle around the time she was 10 months old, she used them only for a short while and then began talking (though we do occassionally revert to signs to emphasize something). That said, a friend of mine taught her son signs and he became so adept at using signs that he was able to create compound messages to communicate with her . . . in fact, this same friend suggested I introduce signs to Annabelle when I did because Annabelle was experiencing so much frustration because she could only cry and yell to communicate with us.
Well, when I read Hopealso’s post on reading and signing stories with babies, I thought about my experiences with signing but I also thought back to my early interest on whether or not and how to introduce early literacy skills to my infant and now toddler. Lately, Annabelle has began pointing at words when we read to her and she also will take the book from us, point at words, and pretend to read to us (though she does have several of her favorite books memorized, so her “pretend” is pretty accurate). While I do not want to push her to learn her letters, write her letters, and learn how to read, I do want to encourage her interests and continue to work with her for developing pre-literacy skills. When she was just 3 months old, I remember asking our local library whether I might bring her to the 6 month old infant story time so that she could listen to someone else read to her and so that we might be around other babies (looking back, I know that I too was thirsty for adult company and activity, and I also since learned that babies do not need social interaction the way that older toddlers and children do). To my surprise, the librarian said that story time was age specific and that we would have to wait 3 months for my daughter to turn 6 months. While I felt frustrated with the librarian’s stance, I also felt hopeful that I could find other programs that were inclusive as well as other new moms who had an interest in exposing their babies to a group book time.
Here’s what happened. Two moms and I met with the librarian again to discuss starting a story time for babies under 6 months old; again, the librarian refused to include this age group but she suggested that we reserve the library meeting room for such a group and that we lead it. Meanwhile, another mommy friend, who lived in Montgomery County Maryland, invited me to attend story time at her local library, which did include infants. There, I met a wonderfully enthusiastic children’s librarian who was eager to share her outlook on early literacy with me, as well as several pre-literacy activities that would be appropriate for our babies and eventually our toddlers. She also directed me to the library system’s county web-site, which hosted an abundance of information on early literacy. From there, my mommy friends and I arranged a weekly meeting and invited other moms who were looking for a story group. For almost a year, we gathered to read stories with each other and watched our babies roll over for the first time, crawl, and eventually begin walking. And then, as our toddlers got older, many of us became involved in other activities as well as the library programs that would now include our children.
Now that my 2 year old is taking her interest in books in a new direction (pointing at words, memorizing the stories, and wanting to read the stories to us), I sensed that I needed to head back to the drawing board, so to speak, and come to a better understanding of how my husband and I may meet her literacy needs. Taken directly from the Montgomery County Libraries web-site are tips for developing early literacy among toddlers:
- Read aloud to your child every day, or at least three times a week.
- Choose books with simple plots and predictable endings.
- Talk about the characters in the stories and how they interact. Ask questions of your child about the story. Who is the favorite character in the story? Look at the illustrations, and ask specific questions like: “What is the dog doing here?” What color is the umbrella?”
- Take frequent trips to the library. Read to your child in the library as well as at home. Have books available everywhere in the house and in the car.
- Snuggle with your child using a favorite blanket or toy as you read. How you read to your toddler is as important as what you read to them.
- Look for books that are interesting to your child, such as trains or animals.
- Read books with pop-ups, flaps or moveable parts and ones with sensory appeal-textures, smells, and sounds. Toddlers also enjoy books that include rhyming text and illustrated songs.
- Read the same stories over and over again. Children love repetition.
- Listen when your child talks about the story and use plenty of praise and encouragement.
- Choose books that include characters from different cultures and backgrounds.
- Explain to you child the things you are doing as you are doing them (for example, “Look! I’m answering the phone – let’s see who it is!”). The more you talk with your child, the richer your child’s vocabulary will be.
- Read, point out, and name letters when reading alphabet books, signs, or labels. Point out letters on food boxes, toys, and other objects around the house.
- Read aloud signs, labels, and menus to your child and where there are only a few words, point to them as you read them. A child who is more comfortable with printed words will feel more comfortable with books and will know that printed words are useful.
- Activity Sheet: Vocabulary
Tips for parents on helping toddlers develop vocabulary skills. - Activity Sheet: Narrative
Tips for parents on helping toddlers develop narrative skills.
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Thanks for the mention! You know, I agree with you about not rushing kids, but I liken it to just recognizing the difference between “natural learning” and something forced. I think the excellent library list you posted speaks to that difference.
Children love to imitate. So if we’re eating, they want to eat, if we’re talking they want to talk, if we’re reading, they want to read. Learning seems to boil down to simple imitation and repetition when you look at it! So, did I use flash cards? Not so much, what do flash cards have to do with anything that we grownups do? But we read, read, read, read when my first son was young. Every night before bed. We read a lot of the same books quite naturally as they were favorites. And sometimes I picked out books with repetition, like the Biscuit Books, both because they help with reading and because they’re fun!
Sounds like you’re on the right track to me! Enjoy your time! I’ll be interested to see how you’ll balance all when baby comes!
Heart,
H
My toddler loves it when I leave him notes. Sometimes before I go to bed I make a simple love note and put it on the fridge at his level. I will write something like “I like to give you hugs” or “I love you lots and lots” and put a heart sticker next to it. When he and daddy get up early our son is delighted to have a note from me. He talks about the letters that make up the words and often has his own opinion about what the note says. ;)
What a wonderfully important post! I’m a huge proponent of reading to children. From an evolutionary perspective… our brains aren’t fully formed when we’re born, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to fit through the birth canal (but you moms know that!). Those neurological connections are forming, and every time you read to your child, you’re helping that to happen.
I remember my parents reading to us when we were little. One of my dad’s favorite things to do when he got home from work was read to us.
On another note, we loved to play “The Math Game” before bed. My dad would give us age appropriate math questions, 2+2, word problems, and we’d love to figure them out and answer them. I loved the long ones, like 2+3-4+6-3+2+1-2. It’s funny, but we loved it and really thought of it as a game. I think that’s why my brothers and I did so well in math, since we really enjoyed it and liked to solve problems. Perhaps when Annabelle’s older you can play the math game with her as well.
Hope, I am trying to figure out how to balance it all now, lol! Since we live several states away from family, we have decided to tap into community resources and have enrolled Annabelle in a 2 morning a week pre-school program. Our baby will arrive about 2 weeks before our 2 year old starts school, so hopefully that will be of some help to me and will keep Annabelle stimulated.
milkmama, I like your idea of leaving love notes for your toddler. Early each morning I either go for a walk or exercise, so my husband is there when Annabelle wakes up. I suppose I could leave a note for her as a happy wake up since I am not there for her first 30 minutes or so each morning.
Abbie, thank you for sharing the biological benefits of reading to our children. I like that your dad made reading a pleasant ritual with you and your brothers and that he encouraged mathematics in a fun way. I notice that my husband also likes to create fun learning games for our toddler . . . in some ways, he is more creative that way with her.
Reading is so important. We read every night before bed. We’ve done that since Ethan (our oldest) was a little baby. They naturally have picked up colors, letters and numbers very easily. Ethan, now 7 is reading at a 5th grade reading level. I think it had a lot to do with showing them and sharing with them how much we love to read.
Regina, thank you for sharing. It inspires me and encourages me to know that good early reading practices have the potential to make a huge difference in our children’s abilities to learn and love learning too. =)
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