Child Mag Month

Teaching your child to read is a crucial skill that can determine his future life for the years to come. If you want a fun way to make this happen and at the same time satisfy your child’s desire to be like a grown-up you need to introduce him or her to magazines. They are a colourful and fun way to learn reading, counting and more.

Children learn best through colourful images. Listening is still a very difficult task so magazines for preschoolers are perfect to start at the youngest age and hopefully continue on in adulthood. One such beautiful publication is the Disney and Me magazine. It’s designed for ages two to six and features your kids’ favourite characters: Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and the rest of the bubbly company in the Hundred Acre Wood. Besides recognizable heroes that all children love there are many developmental activities for the young readers. Obviously there are stories for reading as well as fun and colourful comic strip series. There is also drawing, matching, counting, coloring, and best of all, a Fun to Learn pull out workbook. Facts about animal life and scientific experiments are presented in a child-friendly manner. This is a quality publication for quality time.

You will find it fun to leaf through this magazine yourself. Later you can discuss the things you read with your child and see how fast information is picked up. Good luck!

In our modern world it is important to get your child to accept different cultures, mindsets and traditions. Broad-mindedness and a multicultural outlook on the world should be part of every modern child’s education. Let’s talk today about different ways of teaching your little one about different cultures and countries.

One great way is talking to your child. Just explain to your toddler in simple terms how people travel from different countries and that their homelands are different from your own. They wear interesting clothes, speak other languages, eat exciting foods. Support your ideas by viewing travel programs on TV or reading magazines together. There are also many exciting computer games about the different cultures of the world. Point out to your child that all people should be treated with respect regardless of the color of their skin or the accent of their speech.

If you are the bold type take your child travelling with you so he or she can experience the joys of different cultures first hand. Or better still bring a new culture right inside your home by inviting an au pair to stay with your family. This will easily make your child accept difference and celebrate it through a range of activities together. If your child grows up in tolerance and egalitarianism, you will always be proud of the person you brought into this world.

The last time we talked to you about reading to your tiny infant as a means to encourage the love of books later on in life. We stated that leafing through books, reading nursery rhymes and singing all make the child more familiar with reading. Today let’s talk about reading to your toddler.

Toddlers are full of energy. They seem to never get tired and after a long day of fun and games they still insist on continuing the show. Reading besides its obvious developmental and educational benefits teaches young kids patience and assiduousness. Done at bedtime it helps your bundle of energy to wind down and relax preparing him or her for quality rest.

With young toddlers it’s important to know their limits. Choose bright books with large pictures and bold letters. If you see that the toddler’s attention is wavering switch to another activity. Pressure will only discourage your child from reading. At ages between eighteen months and two years even five minutes of reading is an enormous effort. If you exercise sitting down together often, your stretches of reading fun will lengthen and your child will be able to follow more complicated plots.

By ages two and three your toddler will be able to sit through short stories and possibly even try to retell them. Your child may want to sit down with you and leaf through his magazine while you are reading your paper. Praise this behaviour and tell him or her how proud you are of your little reader.

Reading is one of those skills that can turn a child’s life around. Lack of it may close many doors and limit his or her opportunities. Good reading skills, on the contrary, will present numerous benefits to the child and positively impact his or her development. That is why it is of utmost importance to teach your child to read.

Begin with yourself. Children learn by copying our behaviour. So if we sit all day in front of a TV or computer screen chances are you won’t see your child leafing through a copy of the New Yorker any time soon. Start from a very early age. As soon as your child is able to hold a rattle in his hand get him an infant-friendly book of a pocket size. It should be light and small, easy to hold in those unyielding little fingers and should be of a material durable enough to sustain the babies’ gums and teeth so paper won’t work at this stage. Do plenty of page turning together. This will become a good habit and familiarize your child with the feel of books.

Read aloud as much as you can. Pre-natal reading is encouraged but if you missed that part don’t despair and start from today. The sound of speech is connected to reading and word recognition so chat with your baby with the emphasis on rhythmic patterns like nursery rhymes and baby songs. All of this will encourage reading later on. And that’s what you want in the first place.

There so many magazines for your kids out there these days. Some of them aren’t very good quality, others are as elaborate and informative as their grown-up counterparts. If you are a reader yourself chances are your child will be willing to sit down and copy your behaviour. This is when you can slip him a beautiful magazine.

A wonderfully illustrated example is National Geographic Little Kids Magazine. It is a gorgeous publication that will attract kids from ages three to six. It features exciting animal stories that will develop your child’s pre-reading and reading skills and broaden his or her knowledge about the animal kingdom. Another important feature is its multicultural philosophy and numerous stories about different cultures, countries and languages. This will give your child a tolerance and understanding of difference so essential in the modern world.

Interactive experiments introduce simple science, fun puzzles and development games teach logic, counting, and so on. This is a beautiful journey for your little one to grow, learn and experiment. Coloring pages are also there, as well as lyrics to favourite kids’ songs and rhymes. You and your child can also explore arts by using tips on crafts and hobbies, or you can avail of the recipes designed especially for young preschoolers.

This magazine offers a great range of intellectual activities for your child. Check it out and the chances are you will be coming back for more.