When a person is still a very small and tiny little man, the mission of reading books falls on the shoulders of his parents. An important role in this process is played by reading books for children at night.
Children and books
Now, almost from birth, the child is accompanied by a book. In the beginning, they are plastic books with simple pictures, then colorful books of cardboard, then ordinary books with a large font, and as an end - adult books with a usual printed font with a small number of illustrations.
To the child and the book continued to accompany each other throughout life, you need to work on it. Encourage love for the book from early childhood: buy books for the child, read poems, nursery rhymes, fairy tales. Let visiting bookstores and buying new books will be your family holiday and ritual.
If you have an old film projector with filmstrips, this is a great opportunity to instill in your child the love of reading. I remember myself how my parents and I hung a white sheet to the curtains, turned out the lights and plunged into the interesting world of watching and reading children's films and fairy tales.
Do not forget about the culture of handling the book! Prevent any form of "discrimination" of the book: do not allow to draw in books, tear books and throw them on the floor, teach the kid to keep all the books in order, showing him his own example of behavior with the book.
Why read books for children at night?
Baby and mom, baby and dad - this is the connection of the child with the parents, given by nature. A close contact, both physical and mental, between mother and her child is fixed during breastfeeding, and a sweet infant sleep is lulled at this time by my mother's lullaby. Mother's voice, gentle and native, accompanies the child from the very beginning of his life. After the termination of breastfeeding and when the lullaby song ceases to be relevant, many parents forget about maintaining a close emotional connection between them and the child. Mom's voice often begins to replace the cartoon view of the night, and a kind, gentle parental word turns into a rare gift. Communication with the child turns mainly into the language of commands and prohibitions: "wash hands", "play", "watch the cartoon" ... The active life rhythm and the realities of modern life alienate parents and their children from each other. Therefore, wise and loving parents should appreciate communication with the baby, which allows to strengthen the relationship with the child.
Here it comes to help reading books for children at night? Why for the night? Here you can identify several reasons for this well-chosen time of day for reading:
- The time before bedtime is the period when everyone is already free from day-to-day worries. Therefore, this is the most successfully chosen time of day for creating a trusting atmosphere between parents and the child, it is a kind of family ritual dedicated to the common cause, communication, mutual manifestation of love and harmony.
- Reading to children at night is a continuation of the lullaby, which fulfilled the lulling mission, but with age passed to another, higher, step.
- Thanks to reading the books for the night by parents, the child falls asleep better and sleeps with sweet dreams, thanks to the emotions received.
- Evening atmosphere in itself calms, so reading books at this time makes it easier to perceive what is heard and contributes to the formation of positive emotions, and consequently - pleasant dreams.
Love of reading
Often parents complain that their child does not like to read books, forgetting at the same time that the love of reading can and should be taught. Reading books for children at night is a good and effective way of creating love for books in the future. Only now, if the chance is missed, then it is unlikely that you will catch up. Therefore, reading books is important at the age when the child himself can not read much.
Fairy tales for the night or fairy tale therapy
"A fairy tale is a lie, but a hint in it, a lesson to good fellows", - was immediately remembered at the thought of fairy tales. Reading children fairy tales for the night is the best means of a good lulling and falling asleep. Fairy tale therapy has proved itself well from ancient times. Reading fairy tales is a wonderful tool for shaping the psyche and perception of the world around the baby, it is an important tool for early development, and also the main element of educational work.
Reading fairy tales, discussing the actions and actions of acting heroes, as well as fantasizing the continuations of stories contribute to the all-round development of the child's intellect. Tale therapy for the night is also a pledge of a good sleep for a restless baby. The main thing is to learn to intrigue the crumb and induce him to interest in hearing.
Rules for reading books for children
For reading to bring pleasure and real benefit, one must adhere to simple but important rules:
- If your baby does not want to listen, then you do not need to force it, as this will not do any good. Mutual reading of books should bring maximum pleasure, and not be an unbearable burden.
- Do not abuse the time! Typically, small children between the ages of one to three read an average of ten minutes, at the age of three to five years - 15-20 minutes in a row. I want to note that these are average indicators, but not standards. You have to adapt to the needs of your child.
- Reading a book for a child at night should be mutual pleasure. If you simply make yourself read to fulfill a daily plan, this will not bring any pleasure to your child. It is known that the baby is very sensitive to the emotions of his parents, so reading the book should occur with the most positive moods and should bring maximum pleasure.
- When choosing books, be guided by the preferences of your child.
- Do not choose terrible books that excite the imagination.
- Reading every day books to your child, you contribute to the expansion of his knowledge and vocabulary.
- It is recommended to read books by both parents, which contributes to the formation of close mental contact of the child with both mother and father.
- Read the book slowly, expressively, trying as much as possible to convey the emotions of the characters and the situation.
- Do not replace live reading with "dry, lifeless" audiobooks.
So, instead of a lullaby
When the time of lullabies is over, when the toddler is already an adult and is not very helpful in the formation and consolidation of close contact in the "mother-child-father" chain, the process of reading books for children is playing. Devoting such emotional contact with your child only 20-30 minutes a day, you sow a grain of pure and trustful relationship with your child in the distant future.