Questions About Reading to 1-Year Old

MamatoJackson

I have always read to Jackson, daily, but since he turned about 10 months old, this has gone from something we both seemed to enjoy to more of a task for me.  

The reason being - He used to be a very captive audience and LOVED to be read to, would focus on every page and sit still for the entire book.  Then he started learning to turn the pages for me and was even more into it.  

Then - about 6 weeks ago, he started taking the book away from me while I am reading, closing it, chewing it, walking away with it, etc.

I know it's important to continue to read to him everyday but I'm not sure how to get around this.

I seem to have the most luck when I read books that he is VERY familiar with, as opposed to books that are new.  Should I continue trying to read him the new books or just focus on the books that he will actually pay attention to?

TIA for any advice! 

Stacyc625

sit with him, give him his own book to hold/look at and read whatever book you are holding.

at this point- just do what works. you dont have to read the books verbatim word for word- even just making up a story and talking to him what is on the pages is JUST as if not MORE important.

Getting him to think about the 'story' is a real learning experience. 'Jackson, where is the bunny rabbit?' ....'What is the kitty cat doing?' Make him interact with the story by involving him. It becomes more interactive.

Ex- Gisele has a book called Daddy kisses - or something to that nature. and the different daddy animals kiss their babies on different parts of the body, 'daddy lion gives his cub a kiss on the... whatever' ~ and gisele makes us give her a kiss on each part as we read the book and she know where by looking at the pictures and she tells us where to kiss her. ... the goofiest one in that book is 'daddy frog gives his frog a kiss on the eye' (who the hell kisses their kids' eyes.... us)

their attention span at 1 is naturally short- so just interact the pages. keep trying to read them now and again- his attention span will get better.

and then he will come to the point where he will KNOW when you are trying to skip pages (to shorten nap/bedtime routine) and your LO calls you out and makes you read the entire book.... like Gisele does.

Cherryblossoms07

I have a one year old and she loves books.  She is constantly bringing books up to me, but I cannot read it as it is supposed to be read because she flips the pages.  I just read the pages she flips to (sometimes I read the same page 10 times) and for as long as her attention stays on her book.  It is not a battle worth fighting.  She has fun with books and reading, that is all that matters.

MrsC17

My LO has been doing the same thing since she started walking at 10 mos.  She'll bring the book to me and then take it away mid-book and "read" out loud to herself.  I have most of them memorized so I will sometimes keep "reading" or I will read a different book to her while she carries the other around. 

kcisthebombdotcom

I always do reading time when he is the most mellow, which is when he first wakes up, before/after naptime and right before bed. We also stick to the same 4 books a day-toddlers like predictability. I figure as he gets older we can change up the books.

twh2006

I just go at his pace. I read and if he gets distracted and tries to take the book away I give it to him and ask him to read to me. He'll play with it for a few seconds and hand it back and I finish.  This might happen several times.

EnglishMajor03

Rowan is at an age where she won/t let us finish the pages and then about 2 second into the book she'll get down and walk around with it.  Go with the flow.  The point is to make it enjoyable.  If he'll give you two seconds just point out what/who is in the picture rather than trying to actually get through the story.

Also- what type of books are you reading  him?  Books that have one picture and the word underneath it is most age appropriate.  Just pointing out the picture and saying what it is might make him sit a little longer.

Last- give him a sippy cup or straw cup or whatever he drinks out of and read to him when he's doing that.  If he knows it's "quiet time" he might be more apt to sit still.   

tabi_ja

Read when he is most mellow.  We read right before naps and bedtime, and when he's not feeling well.

Read the same books.  We have 4-5 we read every.single.time we sit down.  If I'm getting bored, then I will read 2-3 familiar ones, then read a new one, then follow up with another familiar one.  He tends to get a little antsy during the new one, but if it's short enough, he'll put up with it.  Do that 2-3 times over the course of a couple of days, and it becomes one of the 'normal' books.  My goal is to read one 'new' book every day, but if he isn't into it, then I let it go.  I would rather his exposure to reading be a positive one.

Also, if your toddler is an active guy, like mine, try reading on the go.  Type up the words for several items in one room (like his bedroom) and put them on the item.  Then, when he's playing, you can run from one thing to the next saying, "Jackson, are you playing with the toys?" and point to the word.  It's called a 'text-rich environment' and it's far more appropriate for preschoolers, but if you're really worried about reading, it's something you could try.  Miles loves to run up to the item (like the toys) and point at the word, so I'll read it, before beginning to play.  It works for us.

GL!  And make it a low-stress situation.  It's more about exposure at this point. 

MamatoJackson

GREAT ideas, everyone!  Guess we will keep trying.  He does sit still, for the most part, when I am reading familiar books which is what we did today so at least we got a few in.

 

Thanks again, will refer back to this post! 

Emcat1980@yahoo.com

Just keep at it! Try different times of day....definitely before nap and before bedtime when he's a little more mellow. I would stick with his favorites and do those every day, and then add a few new ones each day too. I found that around 18 months my son started getting into new books - before that he loved the repetition of his favorites. Now at 22 months he still has his favorites but he LOVES going to get new books from the library and clearly will pick his favorites from the 12 or so new ones we get each week.