Helping a Child Love to Read

Like most first time parents I read everything I could get my hands on to learn about raising  a child.  Who doesn’t want to do their best and  give their child the most from the start.
A friend of mine just recently had a baby and every Sunday when I see her she shows me some new and better way she has learned to take care of her baby.  It is cute and well makes one feel good to see a child be so loved.  Love is in action right and not in words.
If I can say I had done anything right with my children it would be to say I taught them how to love to read and here is some of what I did:

1.  Before they could read I took simple picture albums with none breakable parts and made picture albums with cut out pictures of simple things.  Dog, cat, bird etc.  They loved it and I could sit them down on my lap and look at the picture book with them saying the words and giving sometimes the sounds as well.
2. When  children’s books were bought I would get them with the cool colors young children love.  Example: Finding Nemo has colors in the tones children love.  They are easy on the eyes but true to life and exciting.  Then I would make sure the words were short and had a sound pattern.  Example:  Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water…
3. Be prepared.  Child explore their world and will constantly ask questions.  A word that they are curious about, why does the dog bark and the cat chase the mouse.  So be prepared with simple pleasant answer that can also make the story more interesting.  Like for instance, this is how a dog talks by barking he telling us here that he wants to play with the red ball by the front porch.
4. Find a good time that both you and the child can read a story.  Bedtime is good but with so many of us working all hours you could pick a time like say before dinner is served or under the shade outside.  What best serves you and your child.
5. If the child goes to a daycare find out if it is alright to have a child’s favorite book come with him to daycare.  Seriously some children have there favorite stories and you will find they will read them all the time and usually grab the book when they feel a little insecure.
6. Be prepared to read the same story a lot.  When my oldest was little I most have read the Polk a dot puppy over a hundred times in the same year.  I would get so tried of it but when she would pick up her books and recite each word from heart as she turned the page to her dolls it was all worth it.
7. Make going to the library fun.  I would also walk the kids through looking at the books in the neat rows.  It is also a help because they see other adults reading or looking for a book.
8. Ok I confess too that when I read to them I would change my voice for each character and make them feel like each character would come to life on the page.
9. Finally as they develop give them lots of encouragement with their reading and not judgement.  They will read at different levels and this is ok too.  Comic books are a good way to get a child reading as well.