You enjoy a good book and would love to pass this love of reading on to your child. Being able to read well is an important thing for your child to learn that will open all sorts of doors for her throughout live. Reading has become an essential skill that each of us has to master, but it is also a very enjoyable way to relax and spend some time curled up with a good book.

Come to think of it, there aren't many ways to make a living that don't involve being able to read. There are manuals and directions to read and of course most office jobs have plenty of memos and emails every day. By the time your child reaches fourth grade, a large part of her schoolwork will include reading assignments on most school subjects. A big part of parenting is to keep track of your child's reading skills and help her improve them as needed.

You can start to make a difference in your child's live very early on by reading to your baby from birth on. Young babies love to listen to your voice as you read out loud to them. What you read to your baby doesn't make a difference at this point. She won't understand the meaning of the words you are using for quite some time. She'll gladly listen to anything from magazine articles to the novel you are currently reading.

Babies as young as 12 months old will be interested in viewing picture books with you. Choose books that contain plenty of bright illustrations. The story itself should be short, since your baby's attention span doesn't last more than a few minutes yet. Sharing books with your infant while the two of you snuggle together is also a great way to spend quality time together. It will of course also strengthen the bond between mother and child.

When your child reaches the toddler stage, she starts to enjoy books with a little more text. This is also a time when your child will love poems and rhymes. It's the perfect way for your preschooler to learn to distinguish the different sounds in our language and how they recombine to make new words. That's a big reason why your child will ask you to read a book several times in a row.

If you spend a little time each day to read to your child, you will help her develop a love for books. That's all it takes to keep her motivated to develop good reading skills and enjoy reading on her own. Instilling a love for reading in your child is one of the best gifts you can give her.

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