~~~~~
My daughter was 2 weeks old the first time I read a book to her.
~~~~~It was our first day alone together. I had fed her, changed her… and then we sat, staring at each other. I glanced at my watch as time dragged. Each minute felt like an hour.
Finally, I got up and wandered over to her bookshelf. Reading to a small human who couldn’t clearly see an object more than a foot from her face felt… well, weird. But I needed something to pass the time or I was sure I’d go out of my mind. So I cracked the spine on her brand new copy of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? And we read.
Her tiny, little body curled up in my lap. The smell of her sweet, baby skin. The sound of my voice wrapping itself around words I’d never read before but finding a comfortable rhythm nonetheless.
I felt like a mama. For the first time in my short experience with it, motherhood looked and felt just like I thought it would.
I’ve read to her hundreds upon hundreds of times since that day. These days she picks the books, stacks them up next to us on the couch, and then crawls into my lap. We’ve passed many an afternoon working our way through a stack of books.
And it always feels the same.
We bond over rhythms and rhymes, prose and poetry. The sound of pages turning provides the backdrop of some of my favorite memories with her and, now, her brother. In my lap, they explore the world. They feed their imaginations and their rapidly growing brains with words and stories. They learn to listen. They learn about the beauty of letters and sounds blending into words. Together, we lay the foundation for a long, happy future of reading and success.
~~~~~
Do you have sweet memories of reading to your little ones? Join the LeapFrog “Read 20 minutes a day” pledge to give books to America’s schools.
In honor of Reading Month, LeapFrog is donating $2 million of books to America’s schools, and you can help! Go to Facebook and share the “Read 20 Minutes a Day” pledge, and LeapFrog will donate 5 books for ever pledge!
~~~~~
Studies show that 20 minutes of reading to our kids each day yields fantastic lifelong benefits. In those twenty minutes, early literacy skills begin to develop, whether it’s babies understanding the rhythm of language or preschoolers making the connections between words and sounds. Give your kids the most amazing gift. Read to them for at least 20 minutes every day and set them up for a future full of words, and stories, and success in life.
Sources:
K12 Reader: reading instruction resources for teachers and parents
The Children’s Reading Foundation
~~~~~
I was selected for this opportunity by Clever Girls Collective but content and opinions expressed here are my own. To take the LeapFrog Reading Month pledge, please visit their Facebook page. #LFReadingMonth #spon
3 Comments
Leave a reply →