When I was younger I always had my nose in a book. I would ignore the TV, choosing the written word instead and it would take me twice as long to do anything as I couldn't put down that day's book whilst I was doing it. The love of literature never left me and I ended up doing my degree in English Literature. Unfortunately at the moment I find very little time to indulge this pleasure as having a toddler, working part time and blogging takes up pretty much all of my day!
It is nice to see that this is something I have passed down to my son, and he is happiest sat on the floor surrounded by his books. He likes to be read to but he loves to read to himself. He picks up a book, opens it, points to the words and babbles his own version of what is going on in the picture. He reads a whole book this way, turning every page and when finished he puts it back down before choosing another and starting again.
TV is ignored and toys seem invisible. He is most content around his books and he is growing quite a collection. He will read anything from board books, to paper paged ones, to a random catalogue that falls through the door. He has his favourites but won't ignore any. I love watching him delve into a new story and I wonder what he is thinking about, whether his imagination is taking him to beautiful places already.
At the moment we have story time in the mornings as he gets far too excited when the books come out that he cannot really have a bedtime story yet. Every morning we cuddle up and read a book and we point to the pictures and turn the pages together. I find it very difficult not to read all the words before we turn over but he goes at his own speed, favouring some pages more than others. I love watching him learn and cannot wait to teach him to read!
Since his birth I have been told constantly that Dylan is the spitting image of his daddy and it is nice to see that he got something from me. I hope his love for books continues, maybe I might get to read more too that way! Until then, I love the peace that I get when he is sat on the floor looking at his books and I love watching his imagination grow.
Do your children love reading? Did it start when they were little or did they grow into it?
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