Being a chic mummy is not only about looking and feeling great, it is also about giving your precious bundles of joy the best head start in life and reading to them is, in my opinion, one of the most important things you can do for your child. Did you know that babies respond to colour and shape from the moment they open their eyes? Help build your child’s reading skills with these great tips taken from Reading Magic, by bestselling children’s author Mem Fox.
- Spend at least ten wildly happy minutes every single day reading aloud.
- Read at least three stories a day: it may be the same story three tomes. Children need to hear a thousand stories before they learn to read!
- Read aloud with animation. Listen to your own voice and don’t be dull, or flat, or boring. Hang loose and be loud, have fun and laugh aloud.
- Read with joy and enjoyment: real enjoyment for yourself and great joy for the listeners.
- Read the stories that the kids love over and over again, and always read in the same “tune: for each book: i.e. with the same intonation on each page, each time.
- Let children hear lots of language, by talking to them constantly; or sing any old song that you can remember; or say nursery rhymes in a bouncy way; or be noisy together doing clapping games.
- Look for rhyme, rhythm or repetition in books for young children, and make sure the books are short!
- Play games with the things that you and the child can see on the page, such a finding the letters that start the child’s name and yours, remembering that it’s never work, it’s always a fabulous game.
- Read aloud every day because you just love being with your child, not because it’s the right thing to do.
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