Reading stories to your child can be a delightful experience, and you can make it even more engaging. For example, when narrating a part where the hero sails on a wavy sea, try to mimic the sound of the wind as if you're sailing on that sea. This way, your child can immerse themselves in the story and feel closer to it.
- Adapting your tone of voice, gestures, and facial expressions according to the story's events can be quite effective. Suppose one of the characters in the story is a bear. While reading the bear's dialogues, you can imitate the bear, raising your voice and making it sound deeper. If the bear is worried because it got lost in the forest, you can read that part with worried facial expressions and gestures. These techniques make the story captivating and are crucial to maintaining your child's attention.
- When reading a book, it's particularly helpful to trace the first few sentences from left to right with your finger. This will prepare your child for reading. It's also important to explain any new words in the story that your child might not be familiar with. After reading a sentence, you can pause and provide a short, clear explanation of the word.
- Sitting side by side to read a book can strengthen your bond with your child. Reading in a calm and soothing voice and maintaining close physical contact with your child is highly effective in instilling a love for reading. Your child might also want to examine the book's pictures while you read, so ensure that the images are clearly visible to your child.
- Before starting to read the book and during the reading, you can ask thought-provoking questions to spark your child's curiosity. Questions like, "Will the Confused House find its way?" will make your child anticipate the events in the story.
- Allow your child to follow the story, think about what's happening, understand the story, and visualize the events in their mind. To capture your child's attention, use your body language. You can read the story with a smile when the character is happy or shiver as if you're cold if the character is cold.