• Young children can only sit for a few minutes for a story. Let your child decide how much or how little time on reading.
• Babies may just want to mouth the book. Toddlers may want to skip pages, read the book upside down or outside in, that is completely OK!
• When children can explore books in the ways that interest them, they will more likely to enjoy reading.

• Books are excellent to help children talk about challenging topics or difficult feelings. Follow the child’s lead. Some children may want you to read the entire book. Others may prefer to look at specific pages and just talk about what is happening. Allow them to do so.
• If a topic is challenging for children to read, they may wander away or ask to do something else. That is okay. You may be surprised that your child will ask you to read that book another day.

• Let your child choose the book even if it is the same book over and over. Re-reading familiar stories may help children process information differently each time.
• Encourage your child to retell a story. Don’t feel the need to correct how she’s telling the story. Let your child be creative in storytelling. That is even better than memorizing the old plot.
• You don’t always need a book to tell a story. Make it personal, use your child and family members as characters. That works wonderfully!

• If possible, set a goal of at least 15 minutes of reading aloud per day. It doesn’t have to be 15 minutes all at once, 3-4 times a day for 3-5 minutes is very effective too!
• Many toddlers and preschoolers like to spend overall an hour or more a day with a parent or anyone who will spend the time reading with them.
• It can be fun to read books at different places and different time. This will help create a reading routine for your child.
• Have you tried reading to your child during bathtime? Very fun indeed.  Just make sure to use vinyl books!

So what is the best tip? Try to have fun together! When children are enjoying the emotional experiences, they are learning at the most rapid speed. Better yet, it will also help you reduce stress in daily life!