When you have a newborn, a lot of the advice from professionals is to establish routines early. I'm now 6 whole months into being a parent, and I can confirm: routines are everything.
One of my favorite routines with my baby girl is our morning reading routine. (Fact: the American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends parents read to their kids starting from birth.) It happened organically, but now it's so ingrained that I can't imagine doing it any differently! Here's how it goes:
- After she wakes up and eats, I take her from room to room to say good morning. We turn on lights, open blinds, make goofy faces in the bathroom mirror. (She's super into mirrors these days.)
- After visiting the kitchen, living room, and bathroom, we hit the office, where we say good morning to all of the books (including the books written by her Daddy...which she won't be allowed to read until she's much, much older!). There are books all over our house, of course, but she's particularly interested in the ones in the office, so we spend a few minutes browsing each shelf.
- After her morning house tour, it's time to actually read! I walk her over to her bookshelf, which is stacked with board books, picture books, poetry and nursery rhyme books -- you name it. (My girl is one of the lucky kids to have access to so many books. Many children don't, and that's why organizations like Reading is Fundamental are so important.)
- We select two books for our morning read. Because my girl is grabby right now -- everything she touches goes in her mouth, and she wants to touch everything -- we really like books with flaps, or fun things that move or experiment with textures. At least one of her morning books has some kind of touch element.
- Then...we sit down and read. We take our time; she explores each nook and cranny on each page. (Sometimes I read each page twice, or even make up my own additions to the story if she's really invested in a particular page.)
And that's it!
So, what are we reading these days? Some of our favorite morning reads right now are On My Leaf and In My Tree by Sara Gillingham and Lorena Siminovich, which are part puppet, part book (and all fun!); Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell (though I change the pronouns to "she" most of the time, because it's outrageous that they're all male); and anything involving bunnies. But perhaps my most treasured board book of all is We Belong Together by Joyce Wan, which we began reading to her from her very first day here, in the hospital.
You can find some wonderful board books from The Scholastic Store right here. And share your reading routine with us over on Twitter!
