Parent’s Guide to Reading with Children 2-3 Years

The majority of brain development occurs in the first three years of a child’s life. Reading to and sharing books with babies and young children, and giving them time to respond, feeds their brain, helps them learn new words and develops their vocabulary.

Sharing a book with a child is fun! It’s a time for closeness, laughter and talking together. All at once, reading with your child can help them develop their language, strengthen your special relationship and get them ready for school.

Reading aloud to your child, combines the benefits of talking, listening and storytelling within one activity and helps to build the important foundations for language development. 

Experience tells us that time spent sharing a story can be the most magical time for children and adults alike. Jumping into the pages of a book and being transported to another world: a world of fantasy, experience and fun makes a child’s world a whole lot bigger!

Why Reading Together Is Important

Reading together is special time for you and your child together without distraction. It’s where you can share stories, talk and laugh with one another. 

Giving your child time to think about what is going to happen in the book, or reflect on what has just happened, builds their language and brain development.

The routine of sharing stories and rhymes helps your child to communicate and develop vocabulary and will support their wellbeing.

Stories provide parents and carers with a structure to help them talk aloud to children and listen to their responses. They help you be silly, overcome adult inhibitions and they are great topics for conversation.

Books introduce children to the exciting world of stories and can help them learn how to express their own thoughts and emotions.

Songs and rhymes are especially good for young children as the rhythms and repetitive language make it easier for them to learn language structures and skills.

Research shows that children who are read to from an early age make better progress when they get to school.

Learning rhymes and stories together will give them a flying start!

Bright Beginnings Curriculum links- Aspect 2.2- Reading

· I enjoy laughing when you are using silly voices to read stories to me or change a familiar story such as ‘The Three Little Pigs’ so that you make reading fun for me.

· I can relax and choose a book when the book area is attractive by providing cushions and rugs. I am able to re-enact the stories independently and bring characters to life when playing with puppets and props.

· I am learning that print coveys meaning through a range of environmental print such as menus in role-play, newspapers and magazines.

· I engage in opportunities to use a range of musical instruments and I am developing my skills in distinguishing between different sounds. This will help me when I am learning to read.

· I can show respect and care for books by demonstrating how to turn the pages and put them back where they belong, when I finish reading.

Tips for Reading Together

• Ask your child to choose what they’d like to read. They’ll feel more interested in the story if they’ve selected it themselves.
• It may sound obvious, but try and turn off the TV, radio and computer. It’s easier for both of you to enjoy the story without any other distractions.
• Sit close together. You could encourage your child to hold the book themselves and turn the pages, too. Talk about the different parts of the book like ‘text’, ‘illustrations’ and ‘pages’. Help them to learn that words are read from left to right and pages should be turned carefully.
• Factor reading stories together into your daily routines, for example before bedtime to settle your child down to sleep or whilst you’re out having a picnic together. Read unplanned stories too, so reading together becomes part of your lifestyle.
• Take a look at the pictures. You don’t just have to read the words on the page. Maybe there’s something funny in the pictures that you can giggle about together, or perhaps your child enjoys guessing what will happen next.
• Ask questions and talk about the book. Picture books can be a great way to talk through your child’s fears and worries, for example, going into hospital or welcoming a new sibling. This helps them deal with their emotions. Give them space to talk and ask how they feel about the scenarios in the story.
• Children will have favourite books that they like to read over and over again. Reading stories repeatedly will encourage children’s memory recall, sequencing skills and vocabulary consolidation.
• Choose a range of different books; board books, bath books, cause and effect books, textures, flaps, pop up books so your child gets different experiences from them. Encourage them to turn the pages, lift the flaps and guess what’s next in the story.
• Have fun! There’s no right or wrong way to share a story – as long as you and your child are having fun. Don’t be afraid to act out situations or use funny voices or accents for the different characters… your little ones will love it!