There are several benefits to reading to your toddler. Not only does it help them start learning early, but it also helps them develop several cognitive functions such as language, listening comprehension, and memory. Here is an overview of how reading to your toddler learning books can help children assimilate information better.
1. Practice the Alphabet
One of the easiest ways to get your child to pick up a book is by starting with the ABCs. Reading encourages children to pay attention cause they can see the pictures on each page. It teaches them that writing has a controlled, systematic process used to construct meaningful words and sentences. Finally, it helps children develop the beginning of using their alphabetical skills.
2. Practice Shapes and Colors
Another way reading helps develop young children’s foundational skills is through how they are taught to distinguish shapes and colors. While most toddlers get this concept, they begin to use words as they grow. Reading to your child can help them start identifying colors and shapes, which facilitates their ability to learn them on their own later.
3. Improve Social Skills
Reading helps develop toddlers’ language and vocabulary by introducing them to different types of people. A wide range of people you read about can help your toddler visualize how different types of people act and interact with each other. It helps improve their social skills, as well as their interactions with others. In addition, it allows them to understand the importance of diversity and how everyone is an individual. A lot of reading activities do not just involve the child but also the adult. One such instance is the family sitting together and reading a story, usually in a bedtime book. This activity helps parents and children learn how to interact regularly.
4. Offer a Variety of Games
There are several different interactive games that you can play with your toddler when reading a story. One such example is to offer other actions for each page. For instance, on the first page, you can make a loud sound or grunt, and on the next page, you can make a quiet sound or hum. It helps your child recognize what will happen on each page and teaches them the sounds each object makes.
5. Ask Questions
Engaging your child while you read to them makes them more likely to pay attention to what they are reading. Encouraging questions from your child as you read helps them understand the story better and allows them to learn new words simultaneously. Reading with your toddler also helps them learn how to formulate questions. It improves their communication with you, the parent, and with others as they age. Asking and answering questions can help a child understand the difference between right and wrong and develop moral standards at a young age.
6. Identify Noises
Reading their emotions and actions helps your child better identify what feelings look like in real life. It helps them learn how emotions are transferred through words and actions, which assists in developing basic empathy skills. For example, when reading stories about big trucks, you can have the parent or child make engine noise.
The Bottom Line
Recent studies show that toddlers read to by their parents during the first few years of their lives develop better cognitive abilities and are significantly less likely to have behavioral issues than those who do not receive this type of stimulation. In addition, it has been proven that reading with your little one helps develop the basics such as language, thinking, and memory skills.
There are a lot of ways that reading to your child can help them develop their cognitive abilities. It also helps them grow up with a love of stories, and respect for words as they continue to read. Encouraging your child to read is one way you can give them the gift of reading, and even though it is something they will enjoy, you should also learn how to read with them.
