A love of reading opens the door to adventures, learning new things and a whole host of key language skills such as speech development and vocabulary building. Spending time with books also creates special moments for you to bond with your child and enjoy each other’s company.

Just 10 to 15 minutes a day with a book is enough to spark your curious little one’s interest. Read on for our top tips on fostering a love of literature.

Start right away

Reading to your newborn helps to give them the best start in life. Babies learn language from adults who repeat and read words to them. When you read to your little one, talk about the characters and objects in the book or the sounds the animals make. Hearing your voice helps give meaning to the letters and pictures they are seeing. As you read, vary the pitch and tone of your voice and try different accents or voices for different characters. It helps to keep your child engaged and makes the story jump off the page!

Remember, children learn to love books long before they learn to read. Spending time with books together now will help children grow to enjoy them even more as they get older.

Model what a good reader looks like

It is important for children to see reading as something fun and pleasurable to do rather than a difficult task. What better way to teach this than to show them the ropes yourself! If your children see you reading often, it is more likely to encourage them. This will also help to promote time away from screens.

Take turns

As your child grows older, take turns reading out loud to each other. If you have an early reader, this can be as much as asking your child to point out letters and words he recognizes. Next, take turns reading sentences. As his abilities grow, you can take turns reading pages and eventually chapters. As you read together, ask questions about what you are reading: “What do you think will happen next?” “Why do you think the elephant did that?”

The time you spend reading out loud to each other will help build confidence in speaking aloud and will reinforce what your child has learned.

Listen to your child

As your little one grows, pay attention to her interests. If she is particularly drawn to a particular topic, like dinosaurs, try to find children’s books about that subject. This will help to reinforce that books are tools for learning more about the things we care about and she will be more likely to read if the subject matter is her favourite dino!

Make it a routine

Making reading an enjoyable part of your child’s life starts with incorporating books into your daily routine. Create a special reading time before bed or while taking public transportation. While you are together, make sure to limit distractions like mobile phones and television. Your time should be all about each other!

Reading milestones

While every child is different, here are some of the milestones you may observe as your child’s reading skills develop:

Birth – 18 months

• Understands some simple phrases
• Looks at books and tries to turn pages
• Imitates speech
• At around 1 year can say one or more words

18 months – 3 years

• Can say 250 – 350 words at around 2 years and 800 – 1,000 words at around 3 years
• Enjoys listening to familiar books
• Says a repeated phrase from a favourite book
• Imitates the sounds of adults speaking
• Asks to be read to

3 – 5 years

• Recognizes familiar letters and tries to write them
• Holds a book correctly and turns the pages
• Identifies rhyming words
• Uses sentences comfortably
• Learns from books that are read aloud

https://www.unicef.org/parenting/child-care/teach-your-child-to-love-reading