How to help your child
learn to love reading.

Susan Schoon Eberly, MA
University Hospital School
Spring 1998

At: 6 to 12 months

Your baby:

And in response, you:

Holds head steadily.

Sits in your lap

Reaches for books and tastes them.

Looks briefly at pictures; likes photos of faces best.

Pats pictures.

"Talks" while looking.

Hold your child so that he can see your face.

Follow his cues to start and to stop reading.

Tell your baby about the pictures.

Make story time part of each day's routine; for example, at nap time and at bed time.

Sing to him.

Tell him nursery rhymes.

Play simple singing games with him, like "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "I'm a Little Teapot".

At: 12 to 18 months

Your toddler:

And in response, you:

Sometimes holds books without tasting them.

Points with one finger at pictures.

Begins to use certain sounds with certain pictures.

Let her choose what book to read.

Let her know you like it when she brings you a book.

Let her decide how long to look at a book, and stop when she wants to stop.

Ask her to tell you what the pictures show.

Let her stand or move around as you read to her.

Let her take the book and look at it, even if it. interrupts your reading

At: 18 to 36 months

Your toddler:

And in response, you:

Sometimes listens to stories for a long time, sometimes not at all.

Gives names to certain pictures.

Wants to hear the same story again and again.

Pretends to read stories out loud.

Let him choose the book or story.

Ask him, "What is that," and wait to hear his answer.

Accept that he may want to end a story before you do -- 5 minutes of listening is a long time to a child.

Talk with him about how the story relates to him -- "There's a bear just like your bear!"

Let him tell you what the pictures are about.

Praise him when he "reads" to his teddy bear or other toys.

At: 36 months and older

Your little one:

And in response, you:

Can recite favorite stories.

Pretends to read, following the text with finger.

"Writes" her name with a scribble.

Let her pick the story, even if you've read it to her a hundred times -- children learn through repetition.

Ask her "What's happening in this picture?" and then encourage her to tell you all about it.

Praise her ideas and tell her what a great storyteller she is.

Let her tell the story in her own way, even if it is very different from the "real" story.

Encourage her to "write" -- her name, her own stories. Then have her tell you what she has written.

"Reading failure is the single best predictor of later antisocial behavior,
drug abuse problems, and other difficulties in school."

Travis Thompson, Director
John F. Kennedy Center, Vanderbilt University