You’re never too old, too wacky, too wild,
to pick up a book and read to a child.
-Dr. Seuss
I’ve read two articles this week talking about a new study by the American Academy of Pediatrics which encourages parents to read to their babies (even from birth) to help develop their brain and early language learning.*
It’s exciting isn’t it? Being a new mom! Meeting this tiny little creature for the first time, one that needs to learn everything from eating, walking, talking, …and even breathing while sleeping –Wow! It’s easy to measure our little ones by what they’ve accomplished or learned in just a few short months. It’s also easy to limit them when we think they aren’t ready.** One thing I limited my son from in his “younger” days were books and reading. I consider myself a pretty average bookworm, but I just did not feel reading to him would be very beneficial when he could not even focus or pay attention …also, whenever I tried, he would just try to put the book in his mouth! Through all this though, I was still worried about how he would take (or not) to reading.
Luckily, my worry was unnecessary, because around 9-months old, he started being interested in books and reading. He started off just turning the pages, but now he actually sits and looks at the book as if he were reading it before turning the page. He’s also, somehow and someway, acquired quite a library of books, but his favourite ones are Star Wars 1-2-3, a Disney Pixar storybook collection, and a group of Dr. Seuss board books.
We recently took a family trip to Orlando, Florida and part of our trip included a day at Universal Studios’ theme park, Islands of Adventure. Within that park is Seuss Landing. They have a bookstore called “All The Books You Can Read”. When James saw that, he was so excited! He wanted to go and touch, and read, and turn the page of every single book. I must confess, I was a bit excited as well. I love reading Seuss-books to him, they’re fun and sometimes a good read-out-loud challenge. 🙂
Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.
-Socrates
Was it because of me that he likes reading so much? Absolutely not. Am I glad that he is? Absolutely yes! Do I hope that this interest continues, hopefully well into and past his academic years? YES! And I want to help him on his way to being his own brand of bookworm, that’s really all I can do. Books are really his first introduction to academic learning. It’s his first foray into discovering a world of …well, any world of his choosing!
**the two articles: New study: Major benefits of reading aloud to infants and Pediatrics Group to Recommend Reading Aloud to Children From Birth
**That being said, there are something’s that babies are only ready for at a certain time in their life (especially when it concerns food). As with most things regarding babies: when in doubt, consult your doctor.
JOYiSMOM 