Toddlers love board books, bathtub books, and pop-up books — any type they can hold easily and manipulate themselves. they love stories accompanied by bright, clear, realistic pictures. and of course, they love rhymes.  That’s not to say your 2-year-old won’t appreciate the stories her big brother chooses — who knows, Rocks and Minerals may end up being her favorite book. Just make sure she has access to simpler books as well.

Ham it up lose your inhibitions when you read to your child. Growl like the papa Bear in Goldilocks, studder like piglet in Winnie-the-Pooh.  Kids love drama as much as adults do — in fact, your youngster may love to pretend to be the scary wolf in The Three Little Pigs. encourage her, even if it slows the story’s progress.  She’ll get more out of the story if she’s participating actively. 

Follow her interests. Choose books about her favorite activities — visiting the zoo, swimming, playing ball. Back up your kids’ favorite videos and TV shows with books about the characters.  You may not understand the appeal of “Teletubbies,” but if your child loves the cheery little creatures, she’ll love the books about their adventures as well. Follow her lead, but do experiment with a wide variety of books before you decide you know exactly what your child will like. your little girl who loves dress-up and dolls may, to your surprise, also be the one who asks to hear Godzilla Likes To Roar or Monster Bugs over and over.

Go to the library.  Even babies like library story time, and they are wonderful adventures for toddlers. Your child may well discover a new favorite when it’s presented by an enthusiastic librarian a her soothing voice and perhaps some pictures or puppets to illustrate action.  And, of course, libraries let parents — and kids — try out countless stories without spending a bundle.

Turn on the tape. Many wonderful books exist on CD.  You can feed your child’s eagerness to hear Puss in Boots for the umpteenth time, even though you need to go start dinner, by turning on the recording (with or without the accompanying picture book).  You could also tape books and stories yourself, or ask a beloved friend or relative to do so.  Hearing grandma’s voice reading a favorite story is a special treat.

Which technique you use to communicate with your child does matter.  The use of communication has to be developed much sooner than later. To effectively speak to a child means once you have spoken, you then expect the child to listen and retain what he or she has heard.  After this has taken place, you should expect some form of action to take place by the child.  Communicating with a child can be defined as Speak, Listen and Act.  The use of these skills can be very beneficial in a child’s growing and development process.

In addition, applying this method can make learning fun.  Teaching kids when to speak and when to listen will result in good behavioral characteristics.  For example, in a classroom setting a child raises his hand to receive permission to speak and once permission has been given the child speaks.  The teacher listens and then action takes place either by the student or the teacher.  Teaching a child good communication skills early in life will prove beneficial in the classroom as well as in the school of life.

JANICE WILLIAMS