The U.S. Department of Education recommends beginning to read to your baby when she is six months old. According to their 2003 report, “Hearing words over and over helps her become familiar with them. Reading to your baby is one of the best ways to help her learn.”

In that same report, the Department of Education also recommends that parents reach out to groups that can:

* Help you find age-appropriate books to use at home with your child;

* Show you creative ways to use books with your child and other tips to help her learn; and

* Provide year-round children’s reading and educational activities.

A child’s love for reading grows when the words on the page come to life through experiences shared as a family. For example, after reading Eric Carle’s Ten Little Rubber Ducks to your toddler, you can learn all about real ducks, make ocean snacks, or go on a family outing and feed the ducks at a nearby pond.

In order to help your child get ready to read, the Department of Education also recommends:

* Using sounds, songs, gestures, and words that rhyme to help your baby learn about language and its many uses.

* Pointing out the printed words in your home and other places you take your child to, such as the grocery store.

* Spending as much time listening to your child as you do talking to her.

* Taking children’s books and writing materials with you whenever you leave home. This gives your child fun activities to entertain and occupy herself while traveling and running errands.

* Creating a quiet, special place in your home for your child to read, write, and draw.

* Keeping books and other reading materials where your child can easily reach them. Having her own bookshelf or small bookcase will not only make her feel special, but will also communicate to her that reading is special.

* Reading books, newspapers and magazines yourself, so that your child can see that reading is important.

* Limiting the amount and type of television you and your child watch.

The best thing for you do to ensure that your child will grow up reading well and loving to read is to read to her every day. The time you spend reading together will create a special bond between the two of you, and will open the doors for a dialogue that will continue throughout the more trying years of adolescence. The Department of Education suggests that, when you’re reading, you discuss new words. As an example, they suggest that you say, “This big house is called a palace. Who do you think lives in a palace?” Likewise, they suggest taking time to ask about the pictures and what your child thinks is happening in the story.

The same report suggests additional strategies for early literacy:

* When reading a book with large print, point at each word as you read it. Your child will understand that the word being spoken is the word she sees.

* Read a favorite book over and over again.

* Read stories with rhyming words and lines that repeat, and have your child join in.

* Read from a variety of children’s books, including fairy tales, poems, and non-fiction.

The more strategies you can incorporate into your child’s reading experience, the more likely you are to help your child develop into a strong reader.

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I have also read about the idea that there are several levels of learning. The lowest level of learning, is just memorizing the material and being able to “regurgitate” it in the same term it was presented, and the highest levels of learning are the learning styles that use the material in other contexts, and the learning style that builds on top of the material learned.

For example, when you teach your child about addition, and he immediately understands the concept of subtraction. Or if you teach your child about the structure of the dinosaurs teeth in relation to their food, and your child looks at your pet and tries to guess the structure of their teeth, based on their food.

Well – you don’t need to wait for your child to develop that level of learning by himself. You can develop this habit and way of thinking on purpose. Here are some examples:

If you have a baby, and you are looking for books to read to your baby or to read with your baby, choose for several books with related subjects. For example, if you have a book that tells a story about an animal ( a bear, a duck, whatever animals often appear in children’s books), prepare another book that gives different information about the same animal. The child will associate the information in one book to the information in the other book.

For school age children: if you are helping your child with math, always find a use for the concept you are learning. For example: addition. Tell a story that demonstrates the use of addition: for example: “John went to the store to buy candy. He bought one bar of Snickers that cost him 1 dollar and 1 bag of Chocolate Kisses that cost 2 dollars. How much did he spend?

If you help your child with history, and the discussion is about a certain place, pull out a map and show him exactly where the place is, and learn something about the geography of this particular place.

You don’t have to wait for your child to do some school activity. Whenever you discuss something, or observe something that calls your attention, when you come home find a piece of information about that subject in the encyclopedia, to read about. For example, you have taken your child to visit a friend, and you have heard that one of the friend’s parents is a lawyer. When you come home, find a story about a famous lawyer, or some other bit of information about lawyers. Remind your child that the friend’s parent is a lawyer, just like in the story.

In this way, you are developing in your child the habit of looking for a way to apply the information they acquire. To look for the association between different bits of information. To relate their knowledge to other fields and subjects. This is true intelligence.

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• Show them you like to read. Point out articles of interest to kids in this publication or others you may have. Let them see you read books for pleasure.

• Read aloud to your children long before they understand what you’re saying. Point to the words on the page as you say them. Follow the sentence with your finger so that children begin to recognize how words appear on the page. When they can read a little themselves, read together. Begin by reading in unison. Then, read alternate pages or paragraphs.

• When shopping, cooking or riding in the car, show them how useful reading can be. Let them read lists or recipes or road signs to you.

• It may come as a surprise to some, but parents could encourage their youngsters to read more if they sat down with them and watched more DVDs.

Not just any DVDs, though. Start with those that are not only based on popular and classic children’s books, but that engage the youngster’s interest and perhaps teach a few useful life lessons along the way.

One DVD in the increasingly trendy genre of children’s fantasy involves an unlikely band of friends in the adventure of a lifetime. Called “The Thief Lord,” this modern-day fairy tale in the spellbinding tradition of the Harry Potter series brings to life the beloved characters from the acclaimed novel by The New York Times best-selling author Cornelia Funke (”Dragon Rider,” “Inkspell”). It features a remarkable cast including academy award-winner Vanessa Redgrave, Jim Carter, Caroline Goodall and a talented young cast of newcomers.

This fun-filled family adventure tells the story of two boys who escape from a mean aunt to the city of Venice where they encounter The Thief Lord and his gang of ragamuffin child runaways, leading to an adventure that will leave them all changed forever. Children who watch it can further develop their own sense of empowerment and independence.

Funke’s book was honored with the Book Sense Book of the Year Award from the American Booksellers Association among several other prizes. An internationally renowned children’s author, Funke has written over 40 books.

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