My son loves to read. He loves hearing the stories and seeing the pictures and telling us what's in the pictures. My husband and I get pretty animated when we read to him so that we peak his interest as much as possible. Reading to him is wonderful even if it is the same book, over and over again.
Something we noticed on this reading adventure was the fact that our little guy was only interested in certain books on his book shelf. And when the list dwindled to five books he loves hearing over and over again, we both made a note that, while reading is great, he was only getting so many words in the few chosen books he loves.
Now, Keltanys loves reading and has fun learning new words...now. lol. But only on certain days when he's trying hard to communicate. You can see it when he's trying to communicate with us. He desperately searches for the words and then forces them out of his mouth. It's heartbreakingly cute and difficult to observe when frustration ensues.
Anyway, we thought of different things to get him to learn new words. We used flash cards but again those get old fast once he's learnt everything on them. We bought all sorts of electronic devices that tell you what the word is when you press on them. We tried being outside and pointing, but when you're busy with two and on the go, well, no one has time to do much of anything except hold on for the ride.
Then while in Coles Bookstore, it screamed at me from the kids section saying, "Hey, I spy with my little eye the answer." Yes folks. The "I Spy" book is our saving grace for learning new words and associating them with the object. It's also great for his visual sensory need, everything in chaos and waiting to be found. Anytime it's just him and I we sit with that book and whenever he succeeds at finding something we high five. He loves it. And something amazing happened the other day, spontaneously, out of nowhere, my son started playing "I Spy" without the book in hand. It was and is awesome. What makes it even better without the book, is that he is forced to ask what something is if he doesn't know it by name. His vocabulary has grown so much due to the book. Thank goodness because now learning at home is fun, not to repetitive, and easy for him to pick things up. Definitely pick up the book to see if it's a hit. I cannot recommend it enough.
Anyway the kids are asleep, so I will end this as sleep is a delicacy these days.
As always thanks for reading!
With Gratitude,
Amber Jones
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