I forgot how much we enjoy it…
It’s totally true what they say about second children being a bit neglected. I’m guilty. I remember I started reading to my daughter, Vanessa, a few days after we brought her home from the hospital. Unfortunately, such has not been the case with my son. I could go on to list the myriad of reasons why, but I guess the most important thing is to just change it.
I do have to say that one of the reasons is that I actually stopped reading to Vanessa on a regular basis. I mean, we have books all over the house and we read all the time, but I have kind of dropped one of her favorite rituals: reading at bedtime. So, just a couple of days ago, we went back to it and I wanted to kick myself for having abandoned such a special time with my daughter—especially because I’m a huge reader.
The best part of going back to reading at bedtime is that I get to share this ritual with both my kids. And, because Vanessa wants to prove at all times that she is la hermana mayor, she gets to be really involved in the process of choosing books, some for her and some for her baby brother.
I have been thrilled to see my daughter’s joy in sharing what used to be her baby books with her brother. She is gentle and patient while she “reads” to him and he can’t hide his happiness. Why didn’t I do this before?
Reading is one of the best ways of reinforcing language and it can be so much fun!
Tips for reading to your niños:
1. The time is now! Your baby is never too young to be read to, so go ahead and start reading to him today!
2. Read to your children with interest, make up funny voices and noises to go along with what you’re reading. If you show you’re into it, your child will be too.
3. It’s a good idea to choose a specific time to read to your kids that way it becomes part of the routine and it’s something you can all look forward to doing together. As I mentioned above, for us, it’s always been at bedtime.
4. That said, it’s never the wrong time to read. We actually have books pretty much everywhere around the house, the car and even in the diaper bag. Vanessa loves to read in the car and I’ve found they’re a great way to keep her entertained and occupied if we’re ever waiting for something. In fact, my baby boy just got one of those chunky baby board books at his last check-up and I keep that one in his car seat. He loves looking at the colorful pictures, but mostly he just chews on it!
5. This might sound funny or even unnecessary, but the best ways to store your kids’ books—other than within their reach—is to have the cover face out (instead of the spine) so your niño can actually choose them based on the colors and pictures they see. They do take up a lot more space, but I’ve noticed my daughter gravitates more to the ones stored like that than the other more traditional way.
6. Take a trip to your local library. We try to do this on a weekly basis. My daughter loves it there! Don’t be afraid to ask for help, librarians are a great source of information. On a recent trip to the library, the children’s librarian helped me locate some books she thought would help me in my attempt to start teaching Vanessa how to read in Spanish.
I leave you with a piece of information I found incredibly interesting and was news to me. According to reading researcher John Guthrie, students “whose family background was characterized by low income and low education, but who were highly engaged readers, substantially outscored students who came from backgrounds with higher education and higher income, but who themselves were less engaged readers. Based on a massive sample, this finding suggests the stunning conclusion that engaged reading can overcome traditional barriers to reading achievement, including gender, parental education, and income.”
Talk about the power of reading…
What have you done to get your kids hooked on reading?
I’m a big reader, and I read to my boys from the time they were born. They’ve turned into book lovers as well, to the point that I have actually (*gasp!*) told them they have to put away their books and run around for a while on a beautiful spring day, because after reading for four or five hours in a row they start to get a little kooky! I do struggle with getting them to read in Spanish, as the English comes easier for them. I’d love to find a nice series that they love that ISN’T available in English (or at least, that they don’t know is available in English). Any suggestions? They’re in 3rd & 6th grade, although their Spanish reading level is probably a year or two below grade level.
That’s incredible, Tricia!
What kind of series do your kids currently read in English? Although I don’t have any suggestions, I do have many contacts within the bilingual and Spanish children’s literature world, so let me ask around and see what I can come up with…
Their tastes probably run towards the fantasy end of the spectrum–they both love Harry Potter, of course, and lately have been reading the Animorph series. They also like the Wimpy Kid series, as well as the 39 Clues books. The sixth grader loves the Eragon/Eldest books, and the 3rd grader loves the Warrior books by Irene Hunter. Thanks for any help & suggestions!
I think the beauty of parenthood is that no one is ever keeping score. No need to kick yourself just pick up a book and start reading. I too read to my children right before bedtime. I think it’s one of the sweetest moments of the day – the kids are bathed, drinking their milk and all eyes and ears. Great to read that you’ve rediscovered the power of reading.
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Totally true, Lizzie! It’s nice to be reminded of that once in a while
By the way, I LOVE your vlogs!!! We’ve been thinking about adding vlogs to SpanglishBaby and I definitely will be following your advice. As a former TV producer, I really can’t get over the whole idea of being in front of the camera instead of behind it where I’ve always felt way more comfortable and in control… We’ll see how it goes.
I really like the look of your new site!! =)
.-= Melanie´s last blog ..Safeguarding Your Home Language: Do Our Children Have to Choose Between Two Languages? =-.
The bedtime reading ritual is so beautiful. Even though it´s when I´m the most tired and just so ready to have her in bed, I take my time to read her the books she wants and have fun with them.
When my son was really little he usually didn’t want to sit still for even a small book. So although I normally would have taken time to read only during his nap, I deliberately made a habit of looking at magazines while he was playing and showing him pictures from time to time. If he wanted to take the magazine from me, even if he was a little rough with the pages, great. Gradually he learned how to turn the pages sort of more gently and I asked the other children to look at books with pictures and try showing them to him. Not only did he start to love it when I put him on my lap with a book — he would crawl over to where we kept a stack of board books, pull one out, hold it the proper direction and turn the pages as if “reading” it himself. He’s bigger now and he sometimes looks at the books by himself and sometimes brings them to us to read to him. If we get toward the end of the day (rarely) without reading I just ask him to bring me a book and it’s on!
P.S. those free “promo” magazines they have in racks by the door at businesses worked great, and i also asked my friends to give me any magazines they were going to throw away, anything with any kind of pictures that i could read or pretend to read
I need to post here because the comments were closed on the previous post… but I have to say that the Yoga and Spanish for Kids thing is intense! I’ll have to buy it, but it is such a cool idea! Just wanted to say that.
baby books should have as many pictures as possible because babies like to see pictures .”-