My wife and I were reflecting with some relatives about raising our children. Just sharing some wisdom from our experiences and giving them a glimpse into what is to come for them. I was reminded of how I would read to our oldest child, Noah, while he was still in the womb. He would move sometimes when I read, or if he was lying in an uncomfortable spot for my wife, he would move (sometimes J). The point is that we wanted to immerse him into reading and storytelling as early as possible.
This was a precious time for us and for him, as we were creating family time before birth. I believe this had a huge effect upon him, as he loved for us to read to him after being born. He would be fidgety at times, but for the most part, he would listen to the stories and we would always attempt to animate the stories for him. He gravitated towards certain books and would bring them to us to read at night. We got to experience those moments when reading with him that he would be fascinated, and we could see his mind churning.Â
As he grew, he picked up reading so naturally it came as a surprise to both of us. Now, I am not going to give all the credit for his reading to us reading to him while he was in the womb, but it certainly did not hurt. As he has grown older, we do not read to him as much, but we try to have some time at night to read to all our kids collectively. This is something that requires effort, but it allows all of us to be engaged in family time and expands their minds simultaneously. The point of the writing is to encourage reading with and to your kids as often as you can, the rewards are limitless.