of raising a bookworm in the making...

i simply love reading and i was wishing this would rub off to my son and he'd grow up to be a book lover as well. apart from following mum's footsteps, here are a few of the benefits jared will get from reading:

• develops a good vocabulary 
• helps build spelling skills when he is already in school
• encourages him to hopefully write his own stories later on 
• encourages creativity + curiosity
• builds empathy
• helps build critical thinking + character later on in life

and these are the steps i'd like to take to keep my son hooked:

• pique his interest. before he was even born i've bought a couple of kiddie books which i think he might find interesting. jared started out his appreciation by looking at the books while i read to him when he was very little, chewing at the ends of a book while he was teething (even if i bough him a soft book which doubles as a chew toy!), with another book ending up all tattered with all the pages torn when he learned using his pincer grasp, to looking + laughing at the pictures of one of his dinosaur books, to taking his book from his toy bin + mumbling whilst holding it (as if pretending to read it!)
• be a role model. i am walking the talk, so to speak, and my son would always catch me reading a book or a magazine whenever i get the chance ( i was reading to him way before he can appreciate it, heck i was reading to him aloud every night when he was still in my tummy!). soon enough, he was imitating me + could not wait to get his hands on whatever it is i am reading.
• leave reading materials around the room. i simply love books + it is tantamount to saying i have books everywhere. + i let jared touch them and look at them, i even make sure he holds a book right side up so he'll begin to get the hang of it. i also placed his books where he can easily retrieve them whenever the reading drive kicks in.

so how do you plan to raise a book lover?