How to cultivate reading habit in your kid

Cultivating the reading habit in kids can be done early in life; it can be made fun by taking them to a library or bookstore and allowing them to pick up their own books. Do not fuss if they choose the same book every day. Here are some reading activities that would create a love for reading in the early stages.

Ages birth to 1:

To encourage the love for reading it is best to have a lot of books around the house; board books, simple stories and touch-and-feel books would be good to capture and maintain a baby’s attention with their simple, repetitive text that includes tactile sensation and bright, bold colors.

Snuggle together while reading, so that the baby associates reading with happiness, security and warmth; add more fun by rubbing the soft part on a baby's cheek or touching his/her arm. Pick up books with unique elements like cut-out windows that encourage prediction.

Read your books, they could be anything from Shakespeare to Dr. Seuss out aloud; this helps the inflection and the tone of voice of book language to be most appealing to the kids. Reading in a lyrical or expressive way or even sing books to your kids helps encourages the love of language, lyrics and words, which clearly are the fundamentals of reading. It is a good activity to sing nursery rhymes while looking at a book with photos.

Ages 1 to 2:

This is the stage when kids are building their vocabulary and interact with books, which shows early comprehension skills. Make reading time exciting by not confining it to bedtime only.

Reading could also be done in the bath-tub with a waterproof bathtub book and the child could be asked to mimic the activities in the book; this helps make reading more fun and memorable. Sensory books or touch and feel books like "Does a fish really feel like that? “How about a goat's horns?” are great ways to get kids involved and interested and incite them to give verbal feedback.  

Ages 2 to 3:

Phonological awareness -- rhyming, knowing the alphabet and letter-sound correspondences – are very important at this stage which is a precursor to school success. Dr. Seuss books with their catchy rhymes and alphabet repetitions plus great story lines are great for this age. A very valuable skill at this age is reading comprehension; so after reading the book, ask questions about the beginning, middle and end. Retell the story without the book and ask about feelings like how did that make the mouse feel or was the cat happy or sad and what you would do if the dog sat on your lap. 

Ages 3 to 4:

It is right at this age to choose books with repeated phrases; download a few fun interactive picture books on the iPad for building strategies to comprehend text. Kids at this age often memorize their favorite books, so encourage kids to read by lining up his/her stuffed animals for make-believe "story time."

Age 4 to 5:

Encourage reading activities like reading grocery lists or instructions for a craft or game in your children of this age. While shopping hand over the list to your kid and let /her collect the items or let teach you a new board game. Also encourage your kid to read leveled books.

All said and done do not lay too much emphasis on reading and writing before your kid is really ready; it would be a negative experience. Pull back when your kid is too stressed up and let him/her master a particular level before moving on to the next.