Bonding With Your Little One

Reading to your child even right after birth helps your baby to become used to the sound of your voice. Reading in soft tones creates a soothing environment to your child and switching off between mommy and daddy is a great idea.

As your baby develops into toddlerville (no, not a real word but I like it) he or she now starts to look at story time as fun, exciting and reading often becomes a ritual between child and parent with squeals of "Mommy (or Daddy), again, read it again!" In other words, you are bonding with your child.

The focus here is not to start "teaching" them to read at such a young age but to teach them to use their imagination, get wrapped up in the story and have FUN! The learning to read part will come. Fundamentals have a way of unraveling themselves when shown by example. You are their example.

My son and I enjoyed our reading time together. By the time he was 3 if I was not ready at our usual story time boy did I hear about it! It was our time to bond, time to let both our imaginations run wild with giggles and oooo's and ahhhhhh's. Story time sometimes ended up into making a "play" out of the story and acting out parts. He was so proud when he started to learn to read on his own and could then read to me. We would take turns switching off during storytime. I'd read, then he'd read.

There is nothing better than bonding with your child. These are the years to cherish. Ohhhhh how I miss him curling up into my lap, looking up to me with those huge brown eyes with light in them knowing we were about to embark on another fun journey together. One day, when my son becomes a father I hope he remembers this joy, bonds with his children and keeps the imagination train chug chugging along.

Play, Learn, Create