One of the Most Important Things to Do for Your Child

I attended a training recently where we talked about how to teach children empathy.  With the digital age that we are in, it is harder and harder to teach children how to be sympathetic.  They watch shows and movies that don't necessarily convey emotion.  One of the most useful tools to teach children a variety of skills is to read to them.  Begin by looking at the pictures and talking about what is happening, then progress to telling a story and then, when your child has a longer attention span, you can read the story.  Stories teach empathy and emotions.  They teach vocabulary and sentence structure.  They also focus on concepts, counting, labeling, and imagination.  Here are a few books recommended for young children:

Read-to-me books

• Big Red Barn
• Goodnight Moon
• Runaway Bunny
• Barnyard Dance
• Moo Baa, La La
• 1,2,3 to the Zoo
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar
• Jamberry

Alphabet Books

• 26 Letters and 99 Cents
• Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
• Alligators All Around

Counting Books

• Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
• Arlene Alda's 1 2 3: What Do You See?
• 26 Letters and 99 Cents
• Rain Dance

Labeling Books

• Richard Scarry's Best Little Word Book
• Richard Scarry's Just Right Word Book

Books with few words

• Hop On Pop
• Green Eggs and Ham
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

Wordless Books

• Good Dog, Carl
• The Snowman

Easy Readers

• Madeline
• Are You My Mother?
• Go, Dog, Go
• Danny and the Dinosaur
• The Carrot Seed
• If You Give A Moose A Muffin

Must Have Classics

• The Snowy Day
• Make Way for Ducklings
• The Rainbow Fish
• Curious George
• Where the Wild Things Are
• Cat in the Hat
• The Giving Tree
• Caps for Sale

Enjoy!