Why wait to reap the benefits of beginning to read when your child is 4 or 5 years old?

Don’t miss a moment or opportunity to encourage your child to read and succeed. With the summer heat and the needs to remain indoors, reading to your child is a valuable activity!

The benefits of reading to your children early in their lives are to develop listening skills, to explore the world around them, to learn about themselves and others around them. Children are encouraged to learn meanings of words as well as memorizing words and phrases.   Young children are encouraged to use their imagination.

In reading to your babies from birth to 11 months, search for books that may be easy to wash and clean like vinyl books, cloth or thick card books. Set books up where they can be seen and enjoyed. Point and tap the pages so the baby will focus on what is being read and to keep baby’s attention. Name the objects and items the baby may see on each page.

With your 1-year-old child, he can point and express a choice of the books he wants to read. Putting books out with textures or those that make sound with sound devices are very motivating for your child in reading readiness.  Having your child point to pictures, naming them and using a lot of expression in making sounds begins the interactive reading readiness process.

Those wonderful 2-year-olds will want Mom, Dad or grandparents to read their favorite books again and again! They will memorize it and you will too!

Have a bookmarker or use your finger to point, so your 2-year-old can follow the words. Have your child to act out the story or retell the story in their own words. Both of you can just sketch out pictures of what the child remembered and enjoyed about the story. Display the story-recalled pictures around the house as the child tells others what she read in explaining what she drew. Ask your 2-year-old how this story relates to her life; this prepares her for comprehension.

It doesn't take a lot of time to read to your young child. Spending time reading to your child makes him feel secure and loved.

Make reading to your child once a day a top priority and a celebration!

Beth Pinyerd lives in Daphne and serves as director of younger children at Faith Family Fellowship in Spanish Fort.

Her column appears regularly in The Bulletin.