On March 2, America honors the late Dr. Seuss’ birthday with National Read Across America day. We as parents, are encouraged to celebrate this day and everyday in the home by offering guidance and encouragement to our children, especially at a young age. Go ahead, stop what you’re doing and dive deep into a good book or five! This goes for children of all ages, start them young. Below are a few tips we regularly encourage in our house as we raise a young reader:
- Build a library: Make sure your child’s book shelves are FULL of books that will last. Although I do strongly prefer hardcover books, when I say make sure they last I don’t mean skip out on the paperback books. Do your research! Invest in materials that will last, books that are best sellers, award winners and classics from your childhood. Purchase books that will engage the young reader with rhymes, laughs and vibrant colors. There is a reason the books we read growing up are still around, they’re so good… Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, anyone?
- Get a library card: Visit the library, and visit often. Let the child feel like they’re really special with an added sense of independence by allowing them to get their own library card, pick out their own books and do the check out process themselves (if applicable at your county library).
- Flashcards: For the really young reader, the dollar store seems to be every moms saving grace. When you have a toddler starting to learn colors, numbers and letters is when practice with flashcards come into play. I cannot count how many $1 packages of flashcards we went through from the dollar store! OR be the really cool mom and just make your own.
- Join a program: As soon as my son was born, I had him signed up for two free book programs. Check within your community if there are any programs like this for children, typically there is an age range of birth to five years. We signed up for a community one, as well as Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. This is a neat program as your child gets an age appropriate book each month until Kindergarten, not only does it help build your home library but what kid doesn’t like getting a fun package in the mail?
- Beginner Sets: As much as we love reading to our children, it sure is a stunning sound when they read to us. I recommend investing in some good beginner reader box sets. Our house took the Bob Book route and purchased a 3-box set from Amazon for $30. Beginner reader sets like these are great learning tools by pairing letters together and teaching children how to sound out the letters by starting small with words such as: can, sam, sit, mat, etc.
- Create: You can find a plethora of fun actives via internet {I mean, Pinterest} that engage the young reader. Really embrace Read Across America Day in your home by creating a fun craft or snack with your child related to their favorite Dr. Seuss book. This year, we made some little 1 Fish, 2 Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish jello cups for my son to share with his preschool class. Super cheap, simple, involves the children and guess what… They’ll be begging to read before you’re even finished! You can view quick materials and steps here.
- Also, if you haven’t seen the latest news, a brand new unpublished Dr. Seuss book has been revealed as… What Pet Should I Get! Unfortunately, we can’t get our hands on it until late July, but you CAN pre-order online at Barnes & Noble and Amazon. Happy birthday, Dr. Seuss!
