Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Reading To Maggie.

You may have tangible wealth untold:

Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.

Richer than I you can never be -

I had a mother who read to me.

-Strickland Gillilan
"The Reading Mother"





Maggie loves books. Well, love doesn't even to begin to describe her relationship with books. She needs books, craves them. I spend hours everyday just rocking Maggie and reading her books.


The picture above is a stack of books I read her this morning. She signs please-more after each book. Her little fingers point to the pictures and she loves to know the names of things and the sounds they make. I ask her to point to animals,apples,colors,shapes and she knows exactly what I am talking about. She knows so much, I believe, because of books.


Her mind is a sponge right now, taking in everything and learning so much lately. She even wants to sleep with her books and reads them when she eats.


Even though Maggie is not yet talking up a storm, her receptive language (the listening and understanding of language) is amazing. She intently listens to the stories I read and knows exactly when it is time to turn the page. It is easy for Maggie to pay attention and sit for an hour sometimes when I read to her.


There's so much that is happening as we read together : Bonding, vocabulary and knowledge building are just some. And the best source for building up her brain with words and sounds is reading.






Two books I love that explain the importance of reading to children and also have detailed lists of books for different ages are:


Honey For A Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt


The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease.  


I love these books and they stay on my nightstand and go to the library with me.


Happy reading !

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a CUTIE pie! (I can't wait for the day I can hold our girl in my arms and read to her).

Julie said...

Hey Kathy.....speaking of...how's Maggie's speech coming? It's amazing that she loves books so much. I couldn't imagine anything better for her!!

Merry Christmas!!

Suzanne said...

Dear Kathy,
Cate and Maggie would hit it off! Books are our friends as well. I took books to China and began reading to her there. I love that she loves to be read to. She is in Pre-K this year and I just believe that one of the reasons she is loving school and loving to learn is because we read all of the time. I'm a fan of Jim Trelease as well. And, a friend of mind has also recommended "Honey for A Child's Heart." Another I like is "Reading Magic" by Mem Fox. Not sure if you've ever read some of her stories for children...but "Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Patridge" is one of my faves...have kleenex. :) I'm a former Elementary schoolteacher and my absolute favorite thing to do with my students was read to them...and then, see them head to the library to check out what I had just read. "Nooks" and "Kindles" have their place for sure but nothing can replace rocking and turning pages. Sorry...for my rambling...but when I read your post today, I just wanted to shout, "YES! Amen! Preach it! Read!" Nothing can replace reading aloud to our children...nothing. :) I'll close with some ones we love at our house at Christmas and year-round:
"Why Christmas Trees Aren't Perfect."
"Christmas Cookies" (in fact, there is an illustration in this book that reminds me of Maggie. :)
"God Gave us Christmas."
"Who Ate All the Cookie Dough?"
"Princess Baby Night, Night"
"Ira Sleeps Over"
"Bear Snores On"
We love the Fancy Nancy Books.
We love the Llama, Llama Books.

Some of our Favorite Board Books:
"I Love You as Much"
"Moo, Baa, La, La, La"
"The Going to Bed Book"
"Who is Coming to our House?" (precious book about Baby Jesus"
Any of the Eric Carle's

Tender Short Stories about Adoption:
"I Wished For You" by Marianne Richmond
"Motherbridge of Love" an Anonymous poem

I work part-time in a Children's Toy and Bookstore...I pretty much just hand my paycheck right back. :)

The weather is iffy here in Middle TN and so thankfully, we're able to be home. I'm working on the computer at the moment and Cate is in her room on the floor with a pile of...books. :)

Blessings,
Suzanne

Tracie said...

I love books too Maggie! :) So do my kiddos and I feel very glad about that.

In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. Psalm 5:3
We have a daughter !!!!!!
Maggie Caroline was born Oct. 29, 2008.
She is in the SWI of Gaozhou City,China.
(
Guangdong Province)