Today is Family Literacy Day and so to celebrate, I thought this would be a good topic for my blog entry today.
In our household reading has a special place in all of our hearts. Books to me are so wonderful and I love everything that they represent - I'm proud to display a collection of favourites (some so dog-eared and taped-together that you can almost tell how many times they've been re-read just by looking at the spine on the shelf) in our living room and nearly every room in the house has at least one book or magazine waiting to be picked up. There's nothing like digging into a great new book and taking adventures or learning about new places, people and things. My husband is the same - he's an avid reader and has just about as many books in the shelves as I do - although his tend to be more focused on non-fiction topics than the fictional novels that I typically prefer to read.
It's only natural that Wee Man has become a book lover himself. We have our dedicated "story time" every day (usually that 20 minute period between snack and nap where I want the kids to settle down and get a little quiet and calm) and before bed each night, but all throughout the day both Wee Man and Little A bring me a book or two and with a little "peees" (please), "bookt" (book) and "sit" we snuggle down to read a story or two before they're up and running around like crazies again. I love those moments and am so proud I have a child who has shown a love of literature at an early age.
I recently read an article (I can't recall where now - but it was another blog) written by a man who didn't think that reading to newborns and young infants (I believe he wrote infants 6 months and younger) was important. He said he didn't believe it made any difference in their language acquisition or in their interest in literature and reading when they were older. He said it was more important for parents to be communicating with their children in other ways --- I believe he was talking about cooing, playing "this little piggy" and other games like that had more eye-contact and sing-songy type interaction. He said having a child sitting in a parent's arms in a rocking chair, or lying in their crib, listening to a voice reading a book wasn't a good way to introduce language or early communication. I don't know that I agree.
While I do believe that hands-on interaction, eye-contact and the like with songs and games for infants is extremely important in helping for parents and children to bond, I think reading from birth (or even before) is another important way to teach language to a child. Books - especially ones that target young children - have a rhythmic way about them that helps to ease children into language. It grabs their attention and helps them stop and focus. Music does much the same thing (and I'm always amazed at the words Wee Man picks out in songs...now I'm a little more careful to pay attention to what I'm playing on the stereo while he's awake!), but I think that reading from birth is important to teaching language - exploring vocabulary - and helping children to hear the proper way of grammar and language conventions, since so many people (myself included at times) tend to use slang or improper grammar when we speak.
From his first weeks of life I started a bedtime routine with Wee Man. We found that bath time when he was really young was not a relaxing event (he is a water lover, but prefers to splash and carry on in the water) so sitting in the rocking chair in his room with the lights dimmed and reading was a good way to calm him down and prepare him for bed. Since I was breastfeeding in the first year, it was easy to snuggle him up on the breastfeeding pillow, have one hand on him and the other holding a book. Because he was too young to look at pictures, I didn't typically read children's picture books, but instead novels that I thought would be interesting for both of us. In his first 6 months of life I read the entire Narnia series, a handful of Dr. Seuss books, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland and Winnie The Pooh (what fun that was, re-reading beloved classics from my own childhood!). After about 6 months of age we started to get more into picture books, board books and nursery rhymes that he could help turn the pages and see colourful pictures in, but I think that his love of books and reading was partly shaped by our special quiet-time together those 6 months where we shared adventures through books. Even now though, he is happy to patiently listen to a children's novel at bedtime from time to time - although we tend to choose those that have a couple pictures embedded within the chapters.
At 17 months of age Wee Man is talking up a storm. I'm amazed at the words he comes up with on a daily basis and the understanding that he is capable of. Is this because of literature, because we don't believe in talking "baby talk" to him, or just a natural development that would have happened? I know we'll never know the full answer (both my husband and I were early talkers according to anecdotes from both of our mothers so there is likely some biology to it), but I'd like to believe that books have played a bit of a role in shaping his vocabulary and comprehension.
As a teacher (and someone who has studied at length on the subject of boys and literacy), I know that boys tend to struggle more with language and reading than girls do, but with a father who loves to read as positive role-model in his life, a great love and respect for books at an early age, and my own dedication at making sure that reading is not only fun but a regular part of growing and learning, I think that it is likely he will continue through life with a love of reading.
As an aside, Today's Parent has released a list of 100 children's books for wee ones through teens on their website. How many of these have you read? I know our collection contains some of these....and others I may consider next time I make a trip to the library or book store!
http://www.todaysparent.com/activities/top-100-childrens-books
Happy Reading!
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