creating early readers

I've always loved to read. I think it's due to a mixture of personality and teacher and parent encouragement. In school after finishing an assignment early, our teachers encouraged us to read independently at our desk until it was time to reconvene. I remember enjoying sitting at the back of the class because I was within arm's reach of the classroom library. At home sharing a bedroom with my older sister, my mother clipped a desk lamp onto the headboard of my lower bunk so that I could continue reading well past bedtime without disturbing my sister. Oh and for all of my life my mother has worked as a college librarian. Growing up I would spend "sick days" playing amongst the seemingly endless shelves of the college library. Not to mention at home we had a six foot tall bookshelf plus a number of milk crates filled with encyclopedias, old textbooks and school readers, library discards, and fiction and non-fiction books to suit all ages. There was no shortage of books in my young world, and I made fast friends of them all.

Given my love for books, it is important to me that my son develop a love for reading as well. It breaks my heart to hear young kids say, "I don't like reading" or worse an adult who proudly proclaims, "I don't read." {Whhaaaa!} So it is my duty as a parent to instill in Maki a love for reading. I want to share a few steps that I have taken to introduce and encourage early reading.

Read everyday
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends reading daily to children from birth. Even if it's half a book in between Lego building or five stolen minutes before meal time, make time for books. Reading everyday introduces your child to concepts that may be difficult to teach in the real world {unless you're a super human continent hopper}. Daily reading builds vocabulary and teaches your child how to handle and treat books. Not to mention, early reading sets your child up for success in school and later in life.

Build a home library
Invest in books. Building a library can seem like a costly venture but it doesn't have to be. There are many free and low cost ways to acquire books for your child's library. Request that family members buy your child books as gifts instead of toys. Shop yard and rummage sales, second hand book stores, thrift stores, and check with your local library for their  policy or program on discards {perfectly readable books that have been removed from the library's collection}.

 Our local library offers discards for sale in the cafe. All children's books are priced at $.25 plus your child gets a free book every visit! What a great opportunity to grow your child's library. They even have an awesome ethnic section {filled with books with little brown faces!}. I love that Maki can read stories of characters who look like him. Plus we've even scored a few bilingual story books which help make my goal of teaching Maki Spanish more realistic.

Creating a reading nook can be as simple as a floor mat and a few pillows!

 Be sure that your little one's library is accessible to them. Store the books within reach. You want your child to have access to the books at any time. We started with a small space on the bottom shelf of our bookcase {where space is already at a premium}. Once Maki's collection outgrew the allotment we moved his books to a low cubby underneath the printer {which is also quickly nearing capacity}. No matter your storage solution, keep it low and accessible for your child.

If you're concerned about damage, I suggest starting with board books and slowly graduate to paper books {keep a lot of tape on hand for the book infirmary}. Of course keep any books that you couldn't stomach getting ruined higher out of reach {but don't forget to include them in story time}. 
 
Visit the public library

Your library may not have a discard program, but it's still a great place to visit. The obvious reason here is a plethora of books from which to choose.  You can try out different genres/interests with your child before spending hard earned money on something they'd hate. Plus many libraries offer reading programs for young children with incentives to make the reading fun even more fun! Check out your local library to see what they have to offer. You might be surprised.

Be a model reader
Naturally small children want to emulate parents. So model the behavior you want them to adopt. If they see you read, they're more likely to want to read themselves. Even if you don't consider yourself much of a reader, consider becoming a reader for your child's sake. Find a book that interests you, and commit to a page a day, or five to ten minutes a day. You might soon discover that you enjoy reading for pleasure.

Read more about the benefits of early reading.

Do you have any tips to help create early readers? 

What does story time look like in your home?