Joy for Reading!

All of us know the benefits of reading and I am glad Le Xin really enjoy reading very much. It is never too young for any child to enjoy a book. The big idea is not about reading the words but to simply develop the bond between the parent and the child as they sit together to enjoy a book and I think Le Xin loves getting this sort of divine attention from me (haha).

Le Xin always get very excited when I start to change my voice and read out the speech of different characters of the book. Her all time favourite book is "The Gruffalo" by Julia Donaldson. Yes, she is very much influenced by her mother because I am deeply in love with that book too.  Now that she is 22 months, she is beginning to respond to books with simple text and good rhythm and she also likes pointing to images especially books that feature very brightly coloured pictures.

In fact, I started exposing Le Xin to books as early as seven months, when she was able to sit up and handle a book by herself

My friend, Mamta, told me that I was getting Le Xin ready for PHD hahaha!  This was the first book that she read, it's a number book given to her by the Gusto team! She likes reading "touchy-feely" books which features different textures in it.

Look even when she grows a little older, she still enjoys reading this book. In this photo,  she was feeling the texture of the penguin as Mummy counted the number of penguins on the page.

Then she went on to explore this Nursery Rhymes book given to me by my friend, Katherine.  The button activated sound and melody also helped to add sound to the experience as I sang along with her.

Next, I began to expose her to media as well as, introducing Youtube stories to her like The Bear Hunt from Michael Rosen.



Of course, I also brought home the paperback version of The Bear Hunt for her to read, every time she read the part that says We Can't Go Over It, she will naturally raise her arm how cute!

Here's Le Xin reading The Bear Hunt book, I was amazed when I saw her flipping the book and taking a close look at the pictures, I didn't expect her to handle the book gently when she was not even 18 months yet!

 When I realised that she is begining to display an increasing interest in books, I try to read as many bed time stories as I could everytime I fetch her home from my MIL's place. There was a particular book that I borrowed from school that she was super addicted to. The title of the book is called "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak. Please read this book, it's a very imaginative and creative book about a boy named Max who had this big adventure when he travelled to a special place with lot's of Wild Things (creatures). Le Xin asked me to read that book to her at least five times a day when I brought it home!

She will pretend to be Max when I read the book to her, doing lots of various actions for example, pretending to be angry, chasing the dogs, closing her eyes, doing an evil laugh, stretching her arm out to say stop, showing her claws with her fingers. It's as though I am having a speech and drama lesson with her. I know nuts about S & D but I guess I really want to be a SUPER MUM so I need to learn all sorts of things!

As for now, she is starting to read flip and flap books and pop up books and I bought a few pop up books for her from Du Yi Bookshop at Bedok Point. I did a research and found out that flip flap books are really good in helping a child to develop dexterity. Her current favourite is "Where's Spot" by Eric Hill. She just likes Spot and all his friends and knows are to say some of the animals in the book, not very clear though but at least she is trying to articulate the sounds. 

I find that when I repeat telling Le Xin some of her favourite books, it does help her to develop her memory skills. Although, she is distracted at times, with patience, I believe these reading experiences will provide a very good foundation for her to learn the importance of reading and listening as she grows. That is why I am super motivated to set up a small library corner at home for her! Daddy Scott always laugh at me saying You always have BIG BIG IDEA! This is something I want to set up for the longest time and my dream finally came true. I decided to go to IKEA and purchase a bed canopy. This was to create a dream like effect! and it works especially with the clouds above.

It's was quite a nice cozy corner but I find that the big play mat she was sitting on it's not the idea mat to use. Firstly, it has too many colours which I find it over stimulating and I find that it becomes dirty easily and I need to wash and wash and vacuum it like crazy so I decided to change it to.......

PVC Mattresses! Easy to wash and super soft to sit on. It;a really like a good sofa bed! I added two pillows to my corner one for resting and the other one at the side to prevent Le Xin from falling off! I know it doesn't look as nice, but cleanliness and durability is more important. Let me think of a better way to improve the aesthetic aspect, should I put a blue towel on it? I think the towel might move when Le Xin climbs up :(

Everything was almost good enough except that I think it's never a good idea for Le Xin to just put her books on the floor. I need to buy a shelf for her but here's comes the problem ---> BUDGET! Being a stay home mum, I really need to think about the money that I spent and I just spent a lot on her art and craft learning station so just when I thought all hope is gone, I suddently spotted a $6 shelf at Shop and Save! Hooray :)

Le Xin choosing a good book from her shelf.

 I want to put up some pictures of her reading at the libray corner on the wall and maybe design a small label/poster that say "Reading is Fun" or "Library Corner" so that she knows that it is her special Sanctuary where she could read and spent time there. Now when I am cooking, she will choose a book, climb up the mattresses and read to herself.


I am challenging myself on how I can make this area more cosy and inviting? Any ideas?

Reading should be an enjoyable activity not a forceful one. You can never force a child to read if he/she doesn't want to! From young, providing a conducive environment and the different types of books be it flip-flap, pop up or just normal hard cover or paper pack books with colourful illustrations will help to develop the interest to read. Parents can always play their part by reading to their child, it always about being a role model and as cliche as it might sound------> Always cherish this moment!