Fellow parents, I have to tell you: I’ve started outsourcing my toddler daughter’s literacy development. I’m a busy mom, and I needed help!
Let me explain: we’ve talked a lot about the importance of reading aloud with babies and children. But we’ve always focused on the parents as the readers. But really, grandparents (and other family members!) can also play an important role in your child’s literacy development, offering experiences that can be unique and wholly apart from what you do with your kids.
At my house, we have a fairly complex set of childcare arrangements for my three-year-old daughter each work-week. She splits her time between both sets of grandparents (yes, we are lucky) and two days of preschool. But whether my daughter’s in school or at grandma's house, literacy is happening.
For example: on Mondays, my husband’s parents take my daughter to storytime at their local bookstore. I love this because it broadens her range of experience by giving her regular read-aloud time with new books read by someone outside her family. Also, like most three-year-olds, she is deeply comforted by routine, and can count on Monday morning storytime to begin her week.
Sometimes even with routine and days full of books and toys, she has some separation anxiety in the morning, or tough spots during the day. My mom developed an indirect distraction strategy that calms my daughter when she’s upset. It's genius, and it works: my mom will pick up The Tale of Peter Rabbit (a favorite in their house), sit near my father, and start reading the book to him. After a page or two, my daughter will become intrigued, climb into my mom’s lap, and forget her tears.
I love to hear about the new things the grandparents devise to do with her that are totally outside my or my husband’s influence. They are establishing their own relationship with her and with books, bringing their own creativity, time and energy to it.
These are just two examples from my family, but there are lots more ways grandparents and other relatives can engage your child through reading and books:
Share old favorites. We have a lot of Little Golden Books, which we were first published in 1942. My mother-in-law loved these books as a girl, and started buying them for my daughter. We love reading the gently subversive Mister Dog: The Dog Who Belonged to Himself.
Tell stories. Literacy isn’t just about reading aloud, but also telling stories. Grandparents can bond with children by sharing tales they loved as children, or about their lives growing up. (For more on this, click here.)
Read aloud at school. Many schools encourage grandparents to visit classrooms and read aloud with children. Check with your child's teacher to see about a guest read-aloud in class.
Be pen pals. For family members who don’t live nearby, email or letter-writing is a great way to practice reading and writing and strengthen family bonds.
What are some of the ways your children read with family members?
