Reading (birth - 33 months)

Reading with toddlers should not be about teaching them to read. It is about nurturing your relationship; encouraging their curiosity, creativity, and imagination; and fostering a love of books. Along with all that, reading with toddlers helps them build real world knowledge and the language and storytelling skills that are essential foundations for reading.

Books for toddlers are full of interesting words, colorful pictures, and information that can help toddlers learn about the world. The books toddlers tend to like best give them lots of things to do.

• Young toddlers like to touch pages, poke their fingers in holes, and imitate actions and sound effects.
• Older toddlers also like books that tell simple stories––especially about characters who behave like them or who share their feelings.

Toddlers can enjoy a brief group story time, as long as they are free to move around.  But they can get more out of a story when you read with them individually. Reading to one toddler lets you:

• Talk one-on-one about the book and what the toddler feels about the story or characters, etc.
• Encourage a toddler to interact with your reading by turning the pages, talking about pictures, or helping you tell or act out the story.
• Ask questions and make comments that help him connect a picture or story event with his real world experience. 
• Answer the questions he asks about the story or characters.
• Read a book over and over again so he gets more out of repeated readings.