Could somebody please give me suggestions as in how to read to babies…what I mean is …I was told that repetition is the key with babies. Should I read say 3 books repeatedly for a week (like 3 books each day and repeat the same three books that week…no other books)? OR should I just randomly read whatever we find. Is there a rule?
I have tried reading the same book repeatedly a week and my baby loves it…she even knows what’s coming next. I am not sure if this is the most effective way though as she’s only getting exposed to few words. Please help>
First, I strongly believe that there is no ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ way to read to a child.
the rule of thumb should probably go something like this: If your child enjoys it, no matter what ‘it’ is, continue.
I think a wonderful compromise would be to have “staples” in your literary diet, but read variety also.
For example if she’s enjoying hearing and even anticipating coming parts in; The Cat in the Hat, Hungry Caterpillar and Goodnight Moon, then continue to read them for as long as both of you are interested. But you might, also read several other books throughout the day/week.
As time passes, you may ‘phase out’ one of the 3 staple books and replace it with another story, and slowly but surely change all 3 ‘staple’ books to 3 more staple books and rotate them like that.
Or you can simply read whatever it is that your baby is enjoying when they enjoy it.
Seems like a win-win or win situation to me…Hopefully someone else with more experience can say with more certainty.
We do something similar to what mom2bee recommended. We have one “staple book” a book I know he loves like “I love you through and through” or “Berenstien bears go to the moon” or “Dr Seuss ABC book” really the way I choose them is I see he gets excited when I am reading it then we add it to our daily rotation for a while. then I also just grab one or two random books that I have lying around.
This is a very good idea mom2bee. I usually read my baby 1 same book for like 2-3 days then change it to another book or it depends as long as I see him enjoying and interacting. I agree it’s a win-win situation.
Use this way, “staple” is an idiom, a staple is that little clip that pins several pieces of paper together. So ‘staple’ is usually used in phrases like ‘dietary staple’. It is just a main item that is used a lot. (grain is a dietary staple, because its used for several things. it holds the diet together…)
I hope I made that clear. (Help somebody?)
I just meant a few books that you read regularly, while also picking other random/variety of books.
Mem Fox has written “Reading Magic” which helps guide parents on how to read to children and steps to go about it, including book selection and tips to make reading fun. She suggests reading at least 3 books daily, starting off with a favourite book, a familiar book and a new book. This way, your child is exposed to different variety of books but is still able to enjoy their favourite books. I started reading “The Foot Book” by Dr Seuss when my son was 4 months and he still gets excited everytime I read it, even at 17 months.
I think as long as you are reading it doesn’t matter too much what you do - but if your child shows interest then stick to what interests them while trying to advance their interests too as explained by people who posted before. With my second child things are very different - I now just let her listen in to everything I read to my eldest - she’s only a month old now so that will change, but at least she is hearing stories already.
