It's long been a tradition in my family to present newborns with their first book the very day they are born. While I'm hanging out in the hospital, I read to my children. Whether or not that helps them, I don't know, but it helps me because, not only does it give me a pleasant way to spend time with my new baby, but it also means I won't start too late. I read everything to my children, including scriptures and American history books, biology books...whatever I was reading got read aloud. Babies like the sound of their mother's voice, and my doctor, worried that my difficult first baby was robbing me of personal time, suggested I read my own books aloud in a baby talk kind of voice. Sure enough, I got through a lot of books that way. We'd sit together and look through picture books and magazines as I read, or simply talk about the pictures.
Vocabulary is an important part of reading, and you can start the vocabulary training with newborns too. I wandered into this by accident. Colleen, my oldest, had this way of looking up at me like I was supposed to be doing something, and I couldn't figure out what. How many things are there to do with a three day old baby? I started taking her on tours of the house and yard, placing her hands on various items and telling her what they were. "Book. This is a book. Book." I felt a little silly at first, but she seemed to enjoy it, so I kept it up. I also never talked baby talk to my children. Right from the start, I used correct grammar, and resisted using their cute baby words when I talked to them. Again, I don't know which things helped, but all of them spoke in complete adult sentences at the age of eighteen months. That's not to say that if you do all these things, your child will talk at the same age. We're a talkative family with Irish roots, so words are second nature to us. Every child will develop at his own rate, but he will probably have a large vocabulary for his age. The more time he spends with adults, the more he will learn. Television won't do the trick, no matter how well the people there talk. Children emulate those they admire, and you want that to be you, not Batman.
These days, there are lots of books made just for babies, with sturdy cardboard or even washable cloth pages. If he only chews on them, that's okay. Chewing is pleasurable and we want to create a pleasurable association with books. Spend time looking at them, discussing the pictures, pointing out words and letters. When you read books, point to the words as you say them, running your finger smoothly under the lines so he learns to go top to bottom, left to right. You can even occasionally help him run his fingers under the lines. Read books that seem a little hard for him, especially as he's being read to before bedtime. When he's kind of sleepy anyway, switch to a book with more words than he usually hears. By the time he's three or four, start reading chapter books to him. He may not get all of it, (he may not even sit through all of it) but he'll learn to listen and eventually he will start to follow the story. Good first chapter books include Beverly Cleary's Ramona books, the Paddington books, the Pooh books and the early Little House books.
Make books a very important item in your house. Be sure your child has a bookcase from the time he's a baby, and keep it full of books. You don't have to spend a lot of money. Most thrift stores have plenty of children's books, and libraries have boxes of them at the used book sales. They're common at yard sales too. Grandma and Grandpa would probably be happy to supply you with books. Of course, if you really want to buy them new, I have a bookstore on this site. (Sorry-I couldn't resist the plug. I'll behave now.)
Make sure your children see you read. If you don't really like reading, start. It does't have to be fiction-read a magazine, a how-to book....read something. That goes for both parents. Boys need to see their dads read. (I know some fathers homeschool, but most of my visitors seem to be women.)
Another way to demonstrate that reading is important is to give it top priority. My kids knew nothing short of a serious emergency could prevent us from having our reading time. If you're reading together, put on the answering machine. Unless it's an emergency, don't pick up that phone. My children knew that the best way to get my attention was to ask for a story. Read fiction, read non-fiction (which sets the stage for homeschooling), read cereal boxes. Have books all over your house, even in the bathroom. Notice words-look at them when you're standing in line or waiting for an appointment. My son used to entertain himself at appointments by looking for letters-he would try to find all the b's, for example.
This is my favorite trick for proving that reading is really important, and for getting kids to do it: We had a rule, when our kids were younger, that bedtime was ridiculously early-7:30. (Mom gets good and tired of parenting by then.) However, those who were willing to read got to stay awake an extra hour. They had to read though. Playing didn't count. Look at the pictures or read the words, but if Mom came in and you weren't reading, the lights went out. That not only made reading a habit-because kids will do anything to get to stay up late-it also kept them quiet that last hour. The rule disappeared somewhere along the line, but they all still read for an hour or so before going to sleep. They formed a habit.
Children become accustomed to having pictures fed to them. It's important that they learn to listen without looking at pictures. You should try to tell them stories without using a book. If you only learn to tell three stories it will be enough, because kids don't mind hearing the same story again and again. There are many books of simple stories and many books on storytelling, and you can tell stories from your childhood as well. Listening to chapter books will help with this skill too, and if they like to draw, so will illustrating their own stories.
Try to play with literature in many ways. Try puppetry. Toss a simple sheet over a table, pull out the sofa and use the back as the stage, or do it out in the open. My husband made a simple puppet theater for our kids using hinged boards that folded flat and could be stored behind a door. He cut a square hole in the center board, and strung string across it. Curtains could be hung from the string. If you paint the board with chalkboard paint, kids can draw their scenery. Add a drawstring bag for puppets and costumes, and you have an inexpensive theater. My daughter's preschool teacher put a tension bar across a doorway with a cloth curtain over it. Remember though, you don't need a real puppet theater. When I ran a church nursery, I just tossed an old sheet over a table, and everyone was happy. We bought our puppets at thrift stores or made our own out of cloth, socks, or paper bags. The kids can make up stories as they go, act out stories they've just read, and write real scripts, depending on their ages and moods.
Plays are fun, too. Children act out plays very naturally when they are little. "I'll be the mommy and you be the dog." When they get a little older, you can put on real plays. Write scripts together or find simple stories with few characters. Instead of having them memorize lines, just read or tell the story over and over for a few weeks. When they know it, suggest that it would be fun to act out the story. Let everyone choose parts and just do the story from memory. It doesn't matter if they get the lines wrong-or even if they rewrite the story. If Goldilocks gets arrested by the bears, or the pigs invite the wolf to a party, that's okay. It's the fun that counts. Try acting out the story several times, letting everyone try every part. Double up if you have to. For costumes, a simple hat, scarf or sign will work. Your nightgown might make a lovely princess dress, and a baseball cap is enough to suggest a brother. Keep a box of dress up clothes gathered from yard sales and rejects around for acting days.
Flannel boards are another fun way to play with stories. Make one with flannel or felt over an old board. Cut out simple pictures from the scraps or add small pieces of felt or sandpaper to the back of coloring book or magazine pictures. The kids can even make their own. These are good quiet toys for Sundays.
Acting out stories with dolls or characters made of clay is another alternative to puppets.
Try building on the stories you read. Cook the food mentioned in the story or make the craft. Look up story locations on maps, draw your own illustrations for the story, build a diorama. Read about the author and write a letter. Try making up new ending for the stories. Have you ever eaten green eggs and ham? (Food coloring does the trick.)
The point is to make books seem like a natural part of everyday life, and a fun part at that. With this kind of preparation, children will look forward to learning how to read. Remember that if a child can't read, no other subject matters. A child who can read can learn anything, so it should be the centerpiece of your school day.