You don’t have to wait until your children are old enough to actually read before you can begin familiarising them with reading. In fact, according to the experts you can start reading to your children since they are just a few weeks old.

Pre-reading skills are nothing but the skills your child needs even before they learn to read. These are things that will ease the stress and difficulty of learning to read then they begin formal education. Helping develop pre-reading skills are one of the best and easiest things a parent can do to prepare their child for reading.

Here are some ways you can help your toddler to help build interest in reading –

Reading out loud – Recent research shows that a child’s brain capacity for language and literacy skills increases by being read aloud to.  Reading to our children is one of the most valuable things we can do as parents to prepare them to learn to read.

Begin with basics – Toddlers may not be able to read, but they memorize well. This is the time to introduce nursery rhymes. Varying the rhythm and pitch of your voice makes reading enjoyable. Your child might clap, scream, laugh or mimic. Join in and let story time be full of action.

Make rituals and follow them – Make going to the library and getting out a book a special time. Create a ritual out of reading before bed – such as bath, teeth, and bedtime stories for five to 10 minutes, then lights out. Reading is also a great way to calm kids down before sleeping.

Choose right books – Toddlers enjoy looking at colourful pictures. Select books with different textures so that your kid can explore it through touching.

Ask questions – Asking questions while reading to your child is not only great for encouraging your child to interact with the book, but it is also extremely effective in developing his ability to comprehend what he is reading.

Most importantly, guide your child gently towards reading. Don’t push.

Happy reading!

Here is a list of must-read books of all time for toddlers.