How To Raise A Reader

The Little Man "reading" at three months

Our child is officially more gifted than Hubby or I was at his age. He's reading random things - product labels, signs, DVD titles, magazine covers...it's pretty cool.

Do you know our secret? We read to him pretty much every single day since he was born. That is five years of constant reading to him. When he was a newborn, Hubby read him whatever he was reading. Then we read him Edward Lear, which kept his attention more. I read to him in German, and he laughed and laughed.

We traveled with books on vacation, so he always had his reading time. I read him captions, I read him street signs. Closed captioning is on at all times at home on the TV.

When I read, I sit in the living room so he can see me, reading for pleasure. I read real paper books, which will probably go out of style by the time he is in his teens, but he knows people read and it's normal and good.

I tell him my friends write books. He sees mommy and daddy write lots.

I don't think he's particularly gifted, I just think it has been so encouraged - not by expressing its importance - but by example.