I've recently had a few people ask me "why do you read books to Layla that are so far above her age level? She can't even understand you".
I had a Facebook rant which I'm sure you're aware of and it basically sparked a TON of comments supporting our decision to read books like The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, A Little Princess etc (I think next, we're going to read The Little House on the Prairie). When I first started reading advanced books to Layla, the first one I read was Ramona Quimby, Age 8. Which is set to about a 3rd grade level (I read it in 1st grade along with other Beverly Cleary books. LOVE HER). At first, I even questioned myself. Why WAS I reading this book to her? It's not like she could comprehend what was happening. And she fell asleep about 2-3 pages into the story- so what was the point? Then we started on The Hobbit and I noticed a change. Creativity started blossoming. She started to imagine. Earlier this summer she used to pretend to eat things off the table, her slide, the ground, the counter- and she was constantly asking us to "try" whatever it was she found. I obliged more times than I can count and ate several imaginary snacks with her. But the hobbit sparked something completely different. She started to understand play. She makes car noises, beeping and runs into things and says "sowwy!"---with things that AREN'T cars. She DRAWS. She draws lines and scribbles and then babbles out a story of what they are (in complete gibberish). She has learned probably 15 new words since earlier this summer. She is constantly trying to say new words.
And, my favorite, she sings! She SINGS! Sometimes, if I'm lucky, she dances along to her singing and it is perfect. She knows two words in Itsy Bitsy Spider, down and out (which I find pretty ironic). She knows the hand movements (is it just me, or is this starting to sound like a "my baby is unbelievably smart" post? eh, oh well). So when people asked me why I read these books to Layla, I have to laugh. Even though I started out apprehensive and questioning my own sanity, I can honestly say it was one of the best decisions I've made. We read and we read a LOT in this house. And I do it without shame.
Reading does so much for kids. I was watching a news story a few weeks back about lower income families and their childrens speech habits. Now, I'm not going to be a person who associates income with ability. I refuse. This is just what the report was saying. Anyways, it was saying that generally, children with lower income families tend to speak later in life and know fewer words (how they make this correlation, I have no idea. I'm certainly not rich by ANY stretch of the imagination and my kid knows a ton of words. I think some people are just born with speech delays and some aren't. Just like some people are born really good at math and some aren't. It's just the way our brains work...but I digress). They had a specific case study of a 2 year old girl who didn't speak at all. She spent most of her days home with her father and they would hook up a "word counter" to her to count how many words she heard in a day (not what the words were, just that she heard them). One of the days they were looking at, from 10am-6pm she heard something like 5 words. FIVE WORDS! That becomes more than a speech delay- that is when your general care giver is refusing to do their part in your well being. It's borderline neglect. When I'm around Layla, I do not stop speaking to her. We sing, we talk about our day, we talk about what we do tomorrow, we read, we talk about what animals say, we talk about colors, we talk about shapes etc. etc. etc. We TALK. Now, keeping in mind that I'm not rich (like, probably the furthest thing from rich you'll ever know), I want you to see that money in the bank has nothing to do with it. It's your choice to talk to your child. To let them hear your words. To read to them. The more you talk to children as if they can understand you already, eventually, they will understand you. And way before you expect them to. Layla follows directions incredibly well and she understands WHY you want her to do what you're asking. It's so funny when she makes you laugh and you tell her to do it again- she gets it. And she tries harder to make you laugh.
Anyways, this was a huge rant about something that doesn't matter to everyone. Not everyone reads to their kids and that's ok. Just make sure that you don't stop talking to them. What most people don't realize is that you can teach your kids more by just talking to them then by telling them "this block is red" or "this block is blue".
Anyways, this mama is off to bed. I literally just spent 5 hours looking out the window every 5 minutes for the northern lights and never saw a damn thing. Such a tease.
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