1,000 books before kindergarten & Toy Story 3

Have I mentioned before how beneficial it is to read books to your child?  Oh wait, I have here and here.  Unlike talking to your baby, I haven't directly addressed it.

Reading is so important.  In fact, I think that talking to your baby and reading to your baby are the most critical key components to language development and literacy skills.  The theory is that children who have read 1,000 books by kindergarten are better equipped for school both academically and socially. 

The above mentioned article states that even if begin reading aloud to your child at birth, they will have read 1,825 books (if you read only 1 books a night) by kindergarten.  Also, even if you don't start reading at birth, which I didn't, in 3 years you can read 1,095.  Or in 2 years, if you read 10 books a week, you can still manage to read 1,040 books!

Let me just say, I have plenty of mommy guilt about not reading aloud to Ayla during that first long, sleepless year, but we did read I Love You Stinky Face quite a few times during that first year, along with Just Go to Bed! if not for her, for ourselves with our warped sense of humor.

We read to Ayla every single night, minus the rare occasions where we are out late and she conks out in the car, in which case she gets to sleep when we get home.  We read several books a night.  And it works! (Plus it makes me feel less guilty for the number of times she has seen Toy Story 3-at her demand-in the short 2 weeks since we purchasd it).

Ayla can tell all the parts of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! and describe how Pigeon is feeling at different parts of the story.  In fact, she can answer questions about the story without the books even in front of her, while we are driving to and fro.  Some say it is memorization, but that's okay!  In the beginning, repetition and identifying reading as a warm, pleasant experience are all it takes.  These simple things establish a lifelong love of reading, as well as reading success!

Tonight, I snuggled up with Ayla in the rocking chair.  She piled book after book into my lap, but we settled for a recent favorite of hers, Hide & Seek Elmer.  In this story, which includes flaps for extra fun, Elmer is playing hide and seek with bird.  He asks, "Bird, is that you behind the ____?"  Or "Bird, is that you inside the _____?"  And the animals respond, "No Elmer, its me _____!"  It isn't the most exciting book in the world to mommy, but she sure loves it.  Not only does it teach her animal names, but she's also learning how to make predictions, story sequence, and directional words such as under, behind, and inside.

Tonight, my educator brain wanted to see how she'd do it we read it cloze style.  I would read the, "No Elmer, its me _____," part without saying which animal it was.  She knew every single one.  Again, to a non-educator (and maybe some educators) this isn't impressive.  But it is so exciting!  I know I'm building great foundations of reading for my child.  She loves reading, and she learns so much from it.  Now, by no means is this a "brag" or demonstration of how "gifted" and "advanced" my child is.  Am I proud of her?  YES!  Absolutely!  

More than that, this is a testament to why reading to your child is so important, even when it seems like they could care less or aren't paying attention.  Keep reading.  Read, read, read!

It doesn't stop at toddlerhood and early elementary either.  Read aloud as long as your child will listen and beyond that.  Children can understand more difficult text when read aloud to them, developing their listening comprehension.  It develops their vocabulary, their sense of language, and all the nuances that make English the monster of a language that it is.

And when you play Toy Story 3 for the second time some day, don't feel so bad about it.  At least you know she's learning about human emotion when she tells you, "Hug.  Woody sad," as she leans into you for a snuggle.  Aww.