March 19, 2024

How to Teach Reading for your Toddler

The topic ‘How to Teach Reading for your Toddler’ sounds more stressful if you imagine of your really young kid reads a book alone. Sure, they can’t read alone. And I don’t mean that you have to sit with your toddler and start teaching him or her to read books. However, as early learners toddlers are capable of grabbing the new ideas and skills. Your young toddler can start developing good reading habits before he even learns to read.

Also read: How to Teach Children to Use a Dictionary

In this post I want to share some of my experiences and what I do to improve his reading skills. Before teaching our toddler to read, I always created reading environment around him and those helped him to develop his reading habits. Here are our some of the tried and tested tips to help you to develop a reader in your kid!

How to Teach Reading for your Toddler
How to Teach Reading for your Toddler

Start reading from the day your newborn arrives home

Yes, you can start developing a reader right when your newborn arrives home from the hospital. Newborns respond to the rhythm of a voice and being drew close on a warm lap. There are books with nursery rhymes or beautiful pictures which are suitable for toddlers and infants.

Read before your toddler

When you read books, blogs or magazines, make it before your toddler. Children learn from what they see. If they observe that you are interested in reading, they are more likely to catch up the enthusiasm. They will sure follow you and start showing interest on books.

Set a reading space

You can modify a corner of the couch or a chair and make it a reading space in your toddler’s room. Arrange a spot that is comfy, has good lighting and space to keep a few books. This will make your toddler cozy and comfort with reading. We created a reading corner for our kid and he enjoys his time there. Sometimes it is just arranging books. There are times he just plays with books. But he loves his time at the reading corner.

Visit library with your toddler

how to teach reading for your toddler

Many libraries conduct story hours or literary programs for young kids. Take trips to the library with your toddler to give him a chance to raise good reading habits and also see other kids doing the same thing. You can borrow books when you are a member of the library. These books are good enough to read together with your kid.

Inspire toddlers to choose what to read

Visit library and give your child time to choose books that catches his interest. Children are more probably want to read books that they chose themselves. These activities create some responsibility and he will also improve his self-confidence.

Find reading moments during daily activities

How to Teach Your Toddler to Read
Reading a Menu is a good idea when there is no new book around 🙂

You can help your child to watch out for reading moments. It can be reading road signs, magazines or leaflets. A toddler can easily recognize the alphabet letters on Newspapers or on the leaflets. I do the same with my kid asking him to show me the letters in Newspapers.

Create a bedtime reading routine

If you read bedtime stories for your kid, this will be a daily habit. We read few books before go to the bed. Now it is a daily routine which my kid enjoys. That reading time also help to improve our bonding. So we love our bedtime reading routine!

Give your toddler lot of books

how to teach reading for your toddler
how to teach reading for your toddler

Surround your toddler with lot of age appropriate books. Create a mini library at your home. We have a collection of books which are suitable for toddlers. Other than the books we buy, we also keep the magazines which my kid can easily spend time among pictures and letters.

Other than the expensive books for toddlers, we also buy books for affordable rates. Sometimes I buy books from flea markets which are used books. But still, these books are great additions for our mini library. After all it is my kid who loves to read!

Use Book Subscription services

Book subscriptions services are really great as it is like receiving a gift each month. I found my kids love for books when he receives a book subscription by mail. The excitement for his new books last for days and he repeats reading the new books he receive.

Above are some of the things and tips which we use at our home to improve reading skills of our kid. Do you use any of these tips? If you know any other idea, please share below

Also read how we reuse our books at the Book Exchange corner.

Amila Gamage Wickramarachchi

Amila Gamage Wickramarachchi is the founder of this blog. She shares her parenting and lifestyle experiences of raising a child in Singapore.

View all posts by Amila Gamage Wickramarachchi →

6 thoughts on “How to Teach Reading for your Toddler

  1. Hi, Amila.

    I love books, so do my kids. One of the things I learned early on was that during the infancy and toddler stage, interactive books are the best. The reason for that is that they tend to like to grab and sometimes even throw as they think of it as playing. Of course, during their much younger life, it is also as much about the motor reflex.

    Anyway, another thing I would like to share is that books are to be kept when not being used together early on. The reason for that is so they do not get too used to it that they seek other things to do. What interactive books does is to create a bonding moment, so keeping a reserve or excitement and anticipation is also good.

    1. Thanks for adding these ideas.I agree that interactive books are great during the infancy and toddler stage.They play with books than actually reading.This is the time which parents can create them to love books.

  2. I go to the library all the time with my son! If we model and create these habits for our children while they are young they are more likely to stick with them as they get older!

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