The Benefits of Reading with your Child

Reading is one of the most enjoyable activities parents can do with their child. It's a chance for them to enjoy themselves in peace and quiet, and to spend some private time together. When done regularly, reading facilitates language acquisition and helps children develop their ability to listen and concentrate.

Here's how the "Comfort / Play / Teach" approach can help you enjoy the benefits of reading with your child.

1. Comfort

➡️ Take advantage of reading a story to spend some quality one-to-one time with your child. As you read, your child will snuggle up to you, feel your warmth and hear the comforting sound of your voice. All this helps to develop and maintain the bond of attachment between you.

➡️ Make reading part of the daily bedtime routine. Reading to children at bedtime relaxes and reassures them, whatever their age. For your little one, snuggling up to you while reading a favourite story is a pleasant way to end the day.

➡️ Pay attention to the pages or books your child starts to prefer. If you pay attention to what grabs their attention, they'll understand that you care about what they like.

➡️ Describe the emotions expressed by the illustrations or characters. For example, say to your child: "Baby Bear looks sad. Do you think he needs a hug?" Toddlers need to hear and learn the words that describe emotions. This helps them to better understand the emotions they feel.

➡️ Use books to help your child cope better with certain experiences. For example, it can be comforting for them to listen to and comment on a story about starting daycare, the first day of school, the loss of a pet or a fight between friends. This way, they can see that they're not alone in experiencing these kinds of situations and learn how to deal with them.

2. Play

➡️ Read books that your child can handle. Babies love exploring hardback or plastic books with their fingers and mouths, while older children enjoy discovering interactive books. So invite your child to feel the textures, listen to the sound effects, pull the tabs, lift the flaps and so on.

➡️ Take time to talk about the story together. For example, say to your child: "I wonder what's going to happen now" or "What do you think the little girl is going to do?". This simple conversation will stimulate their imagination and creativity. If they don't speak yet, ask them to point to what you're talking about, for example: "Where's the cow?". You can also ask questions like "What's that?". 

Don't answer the question immediately yourself. Give them a little time to understand that you're waiting for an answer and then give them the answer. In this way, they will discover that communication is a two-way relationship.

➡️ Escape together into an imaginary world. While you read the story, let your child's imagination run wild and comment on the whimsical illustrations that turn reading into a game.

➡️ Change your tone and play with your facial expressions to emphasise what you are saying. For example, whisper when a character is asleep or use a deep voice to talk about something imposing. Your child will be captivated by the story. They will also learn to observe your face and listen to your voice to better interpret emotions.

3. Teach

➡️ Reread your child's favourite stories, skipping the key words or phrases. Your child will be happy to complete the sentences or repeat the nursery rhymes they love, or take the opportunity to tell the story in their own way. This will make the reading very interactive. 

➡️ Take advantage of the reading to talk about the colour, shape and size of objects. It will take your child a while to name these abstract concepts correctly, but the books will make it easier to understand.

➡️ Discover new places without leaving home. Reading is a good way to introduce your child to places and experiences that are otherwise inaccessible.

Let them discover the ocean, space, cars or dinosaurs. Books can also be a way of awakening the child to new ideas!

➡️ Prepare your child for reading by reading stories to him. In this way, he will learn how to handle books, e.g. by opening the pages from right to left and looking at them in order. By listening to you, your child will also learn important elements of storytelling, such as phrases like "once upon a time...", "and suddenly...", "and so it was...", which mark the beginning, reversals and end of a story.