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Reading a book to a Newborn appears a little ridiculous. But did you know that it is one of the most deciding factors in whether your child has a leg up in life? Ever since Marlowe was born almost a year and a half ago, I have been hearing ads on the radio about how important it is to read to your child for even five minutes a day. I took that advice to heart, and have always read a book or two to Marlowe daily– even as an infant. I talked to her a lot, too, mostly so that I felt like I was hanging out with somebody who could contribute more to our interaction than puke and explosive diarrhea. But recently I decided to look a little further in to why Pediatricians and Child Development Specialists are advocating for more interactive reading time between children and parents. I was extremely surprised by what I learned.
Last year, researchers released new statistics which say that by the age of 4, children living in poverty hear thirty million words less than children in higher income households. Thirty Million! This leads to the children learning fewer words, which in turn sets them back significantly when they enter school. Almost none of these children are able to close the learning gap in time to make up for lost achievements. They are constantly behind, which effects them mentally and emotionally. Clearly, this is one contributing factor to the vast Middle and High School dropout rates in much of our Country. And guess what this is all attributed to? Not speaking and reading to children regularly! Government organizations have gone so far as to put out radio PSAs and print literature urging parents to read daily to their children. Parents are encouraged to begin this process at birth. Pediatricians are even being urged by orgs like The Clinton Foundation to mention early childhood literacy exposure at baby well-visit appointments!
So what does this mean? Basically, get chatty. Get a few great books in rotation, and read them out loud. Aim for one or two a day, and as your child grows and demands more, listen! Marlowe and I sometimes read randomly throughout the day, but we always read during the half hour between dinner time and bath time. She knows when to expect her books, and looks forward to this time each day! You can even go to local library reading hours, or check-out books from the library if buying them isn’t in your budget. Your baby loves the sound of your voice, also. Instead of reading a magazine to yourself while your infant is in their bouncer or stroller, read it to them! Heck, even read them this blog if you’d like! These studies are a great reminder that we are our children’s greatest teachers. Get the communication in there at an early age, and we really are setting our children up for success.
I’ve accumulated a few favorite kids books in the past year or so. I’m compiled a gallery below with links to books that Marlowe and I both love! I hope you find a few new favorites! Click through to view them all. Do you and your child have a favorite that isn’t on the list? Let me know in the comments below!!
xoxo
EAM
Love this post! We, too, have been reading to our now 3 1/2 year old daughter since she was a few weeks old. She LOVES books, has quite an extensive library and will sit down pretty much every day and “read” by herself. And we read to her every day, too. I still remember being on maternity leave and reading from Where the Sidewalk Ends to her and she laughed through all of the poems!
I love the book selections you shared – we have quite a few of those and love them. I recommend the Chickadee books (Chickadees at Night, The Chickadee Spirit) – it looks like Marlowe loves animals (like my daughter) so she would love these two books!
Hi Anne!
Thanks so much for the recommendations! Can’t wait to check out the Chickadee books! 🙂
xoxo
EAM
Fave book for my 9-month old: HAND HAND FINGERS THUMB!
Thanks for the recommendation, Kate!
xo EAM
My daughter is nearly 15 months and absolutely loves two books by Jon Klassen, I Want My Hat Back & This is Not My Hat. They’re my husband’s favorites too ?
Hi Joanna,
Oh my gosh these recommendations are making me wish I posted this story earlier in the season so I had time to order these books for Marlowe for Christmas! She will have to wait for Valentine’s day I suppose… 😉
xoxo
EAM
I just came across your blog for the first time today, and have enjoyed going back and reading older posts from each category! I’m looking to start a family with my husband soon and can’t stop reading any advice mom’s can give 🙂
Hi Eva, Love this post! Im a preschool/kindergarten teacher so reading to my girl was almost immediate after birth. My almost 1 yr old daughter (on New Year’s Eve! ) is obsessed with Eric Carle’s Have You Seen My Cat. Not a lot of words and pretty repetitive but she loves when we add our own words to the story and pulling out the tabs that have different kinds of cats on them – especially the lion since she does. not. stop. roaring.
Hello Eva,
I just wanted to say, I found your blog in the past two months or so, and that I appreciate many of the advice with observations that you share here.
So here are some things, for the innovative parent co leaders, of your blog to consider.
I do not have children yet, but two dear friends have been married for 11 years, with two daughters, one 14, the younger is 10.
From the beginning with their oldest daughter, they limited their family total tv (and later on computer, tablet etc screen time) to one hour per day.
Reading with application of the imagination, is foundational in childhood as well as for your whole life!
John Taylor Gatto a 25 plus year public school teacher, who is now a home school advocate, humbly suggests mixing in adult: science fiction, fantasy as well as historical adult novels, even with your pre toddlers.
The claim in his arguments, is that your child will have a much larger vocabulary of words to drink from with their mind, with their voice, when they are ready to talk (you know when they proclaim “Yes I am a language EXPLORER.”) when you add books, besides childrens books, which tend to repeat the same 40 to 60 words in EVERY childrens book.
Just some humble observations for the parents here at Mrs. Martinos superior blog to consider as well as apply if you feel the need to.
May the force be with you.
Greg Fillmore
I’m a librarian. So, this is a topic close to my heart. There are a few resources I wanted to share in case you or your readers didn’t know about them:
– Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program sends a book every month until a child turns 5 (I think) to children in partnering communities. Many times the library is the partner but not always. Find more info at http://imaginationlibrary.com.
– Many libraries offer a program called “Born to Read” which also gives free books to children from birth. Check with your local library and also ask about their “Every Child Ready to Read” programs.
– The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading http://gradelevelreading.net is trying to address low levels of literacy across the country. Their website is more for funders than for consumers but still interesting.
– ReadAloud.org is similar to the GLR campaign but has a few good links: http://www.readaloud.org/resources.html
– Scholastic.com has some good, practical, feasible tips for parents:
http://www.scholastic.com/parents/
– OK, I’m going to wrap this long comment up with the suggestion to search Twitter or Instagram for hashtags like #EarlyLiteracyTip, AND follow your local library there and on Facebook, Pinterest, their website, etc. because librarians (obviously) LOVE sharing literacy tips for children.
Happy reading!
Hi! Thank you SO much for providing this useful information! (I’m a huge fan of Dolly Parton, so I was VERY excited to read about her library initiative!)
xoxo
EAM
Amazing post today! Love love love! My 18 month loves the Where’s Spot Series, Madeline, Pat the Bunny, Amelia Bedelia, Where the a Wild Things Are and the Todd Parr series! I always love recognizing the classics from my childhood too.
Highlights Magazine also has a toddler division that sends monthly mini books that are wonderful and spice up life! Plus, it’s exciting when my daughter checks the mail!
Many thanks for all your amazing insights! Keep it coming!
All the best,
Marissa
Hi Marissa!
I used to love Highlights! I have to look in to the toddler version– so fun!
xoxo
EAM
Great book selection! Most of the books you mentioned are also some of my daughters favorites (same age as Lowie). Additional books we love are the ” Thats not my…” series. Our favorites from that series are, Thats not my monkey, Thats not my dog and Thats not my owl. We also love Hot Dog, Cold Dog by Frann Preston-Gannon. Obviously, The Giving Tree , by Shel Silverstein is a must have in a child’s library. The pictures in this book are all black and white and are very minimal, so the book doesn’t quite captivate my daughters attention at the moment. This is one of those books where I will read while she is messing around doing other things.
I am really struggling with getting my daughter to sit still while I am reading to her. She is at the point where she refuses to sit on our laps to focus on books. When she does sit on our lap, she will turn the pages rather quickly (quite fiercely too!) and just points and says the items she knows how to say. I understand toddlers will be toddlers and a short attention span is normal, but I feel like paying attention while reading books is so critical. She has no problem staying focused while she is in her chair “reading” her book independently, so this problem just takes place when we try reading to her. Any tips for getting a toddler to sit still while reading will be greatly received. I am quite lively so its not like she is listening to a monotone voice (bueller bueller).
Best.
ac
Hi!
I love the Giving Tree myself, but I can’t read it without sobbing…so I keep that one off the list for now so I don’t freak Marlowe out! Ha!
You know, the sitting still things is interesting– Marlowe used to exhibit the exact same behavior, but it turned out to be a phase. She still goes through phases and moods where she is more and less interested in me reading to her. (Like your daughter, she is always interested in reading the books herself– of course this doesn’t do much for the word learning! LOL)
One trick I learned from my Mom is actually reading in a much quieter voice, and placing my head next to Marlowe’s head. I almost use an “inside voice”, like I would use if we were at a library reading next to other people. I find that this “conspiratorial tone”(so to speak) piques Marlowe’s interest in what’s going on– I think she feels like the information is more important and directed right at her instead of projected in to the room. Try that and see if it helps!!
xoxo
EAM
Hi, my son is 15 months old and has always loved reading, and loves to follow along and “read”aloud with us. His favorite book is God Knows all about Me. Love your blog!!
Your blog is amazing. Thank you for taking the time to put your thoughts out there.
I have been a part-time stepparent for 4 years now, she is 5 years old and as of Monday we will finally have her fulltime. I’m scared but always wanted to be a mom.
I really enjoy reading everything you say in the kids Portion of your blog. And I will be reading more to her and looking for the books your Recommended.
Thank you again
Happy new year to you and your family
Hi Janna,
I’m so happy you found the blog! Thanks for the kind words. I’m sure becoming a parent in a way you didn’t anticipate is really surprising and can feel a little overwhelming or scary! That said, you will be such an important person in your Stepdaughter’s life. Coming from a mixed family myself, it is a really important role you are filling– and it’s going to be awesome! Good luck with your reading, I can already tell you’re going to be a great Mom!
xoxo
EAM
I’m curious – at what age did you implement the 30 minutes of reading between dinner and bath time?
Hi Jackie!
I started this when Lowie was a few months old– although to be clear, I did not use all thirty minutes for reading! I would read her a few books some time in those thirty minutes before the bedtime routine. Hope this helps!
xoxo
EAM
Eva,
First I wanted to say I recently found your blog (after reading about the horrible Nanny situation) and I’m enjoying it tremendously. I was a voracious and avid reader from an early age and part of it was because my parents read to me,but part of it was because I saw them spend time reading for themselves too! As a mother of 5 birth children, 6 if you count the “heart adopted” one) ranging in age from 22 to 11, reading has always been a huge part of our lives. My tips and reading suggestions are as follows:
Eric Carle’s “Brown Bear”, Shel Silverstein is also a huge hit in our house and anything by Roald Dahl.
I began reading chapter books as soon as my kiddos were old enough to listen to a chapter at a sitting. Their interests vary, but Harry Potter was a huge hit, The Princess Bride, and the Percy Jackson series’. I encouraged my children (and still do!) to read to themselves but they were always asked to wait to find out what happens in the next chapter the next time we read together (usually at bed time). I was so pleased to see this post about reading and vocabulary, as I have never once regretted having the large vocabulary I have. I look forward to reading more of your blog as time allows!
-Jules
Best advice a friend gave me was to read to my daughter daily, we adopted her at a year old and she understood only Mandarin… the rhythm of rhyming helped her develop her language skills… she also has become an awesome reader. We all read daily in our house and it is the best way she settles herself at night … and she is 16
That is so amazing to hear!