I had been the lazy mum when it came to Gar, so starting from July, I decided to make a more conscious effort to read to him. Now that he is able to say a few more words, I feel that he is more interested in books now.
We borrow a lot of books from the nearby library, and he enjoys reading them. Sometimes he chooses the books himself.
I had read Pipi Gou (Dog) to Gar recently. I love these books as the dog is 2 years old too, and is facing similar issues, such as toilet training, riding a bike, fear of strangers, eating and so on. They were useful to El when he was younger. I managed to buy them at $1 per book at the bus interchange from a vendor from China. Unfortunately, I have not seen him in years.
Other new books that I had bought are bilingual books with cartoon characters, such as Plane and Monster Inc. I read the Mandarin version to him, which he thoroughly enjoyed.
A book I had just read to him today was a non-fiction book on Sabre-Tooth Tigers, although the title was Sabre-Tooth Cat. He enjoyed it very much and asked me to read it twice. He even pointed to his tiger costume in the cupboard.
He enjoys reading Eric Carle. I had met a book vendor when I was pregnant with El, and he introduced many good children’s books to me.
Sometimes, after reading the books, I will play with foam letters. Gar is able to recognise most of the letters, and he knows the phonic sounds too as I use zoophonics to teach him. The foam letters are more tactile, so I do word blend with him. He will try to match the sounds to the zoophonics alphabet chart when I pass him the letters. I have been trying to spell his name, and hope he can recognise his own name.
Now that he is slightly more verbal, I am getting him to repeat the words after me as I read the book to him. He is doing a good job so far.
I must also thank my helper who reads to him frequently.
