The primary goal when reading a book is to have fun, try to focus on it and the rest will come (whenever they come) on their own! The more fun and enjoyable a child’s contact with books is, the more likely they are to develop positive feelings about reading, which will motivate them to keep looking for a book companion later in life. So let’s look at some ideas that will make the process easier and more efficient:
- Do not worry if you do not finish reading the book. Young children have a short concentration time, as they grow older this increases. Let him decide for himself how much time he will devote to reading! You also do not need to read every page, you may find that your child shows a preference for a particular point in the story or a specific image. Let him explore the book in his own way!
- Talk about pictures. You do not need to stay true to the text, try to “read” the pictures!
- Let the children turn the pages. Babies can not do it alone but a child 18 months and older can!
- Show them the cover. Look at the cover together and discuss what the subject of the book might be.
- Show the words as you read them. Follow the words with your finger from left to right as this way the child can learn the time we write and read, while the older ones connect the image (letters) with the sound (how they are pronounced).
- Change your voice. Reading becomes more fun when you enter the role giving a different voice to each hero!
- Make it more personal. On the occasion of the story you read, discuss your own similar experiences or concerns of the child, so he will feel that he is not alone and that all problems have their solution.
- Let the child tell the story. Children have the opportunity to memorize a story they have heard several times and find it more interesting to tell it instead of hearing it again!