Please come and talk to me about reading with your young toddler

[phdlife]

Ds is 18m and he looooooves reading. Sort of. He brings me books several times a day and at bedtime we read at least 5. (Tonight I did 5, after dh did 3!)

But his idea of reading is very "wham, bam!" - turn the pages really fast, point out the things he likes and done. No time for actual, you know, reading. No stories. Not much talking/discussing. Little "where is the..." - and yet I know he knows the stuff. Eg. yesterday he blew my mind when I asked "where is the little girl with the ball?", he pointed to every other child on the page and said, "no"! - but we'd only done that once before!

My only comparison is my niece, now 12, who loved books, but was very intent. I don't know if ds is bored with his books (I cannot keep enough of them around - atm his favorite is a 500-pic photo album which I read 2-3x day fgs!), does he have ADHD (this is what my mother will say), are they all like this?

Just need some comparisons please!

i think 18 months is terribly young for them to concentrate for a long time or "read"

just let him whizz through the pages if that is what he wants

ds (16m) is also a whizzer

At 18m, that sounds very normal to me. The only book that was really read was the one at bedtime (we have a one book at bedtime rule) when DS was in the cot and I had the book in my hands. At 2.5 he now turns each page, waits for you to read it, comments etc.

I think youre doing well to get him to look at all the pages, in the right order, even if it is lightening speed, mine both were really bad for actually concentrating on a book AT all at this age. My friends kids LOVE books and have done since they were tiny. My ds1 loves books now, hes three and a half and i dont think he got into them till he was over two...

DS is only 15 months so not sure of what differences to be expected between those ages but he does the same - loves books, but more from a "gets to sit on mum's knee, turn the pages and glance at the odd pretty picture" perspective than because he gets any great meaning from them.

I think any interest in books is great and ot be encouraged. I am sure when he wants more from them you will naturally find yourselves taking more time over them.

oh phew

my mum won't remember this but when ds was first born she said something like, "a good mum should be able to teach them the alphabet by the time they are 8m" - no that isn't a typo and no she wasn't being funny!

so you can see I have a warped sense of what's normal

ps. geraldine I didn't say they were the right way up!

LOL thats alright then!
But tbh, BOTH of mine knew alphabet by the time they were 8m, do think you are VERY slack on that front...

I think that's how they all 'read' at that age, esp boys. Remember they copy what they see & so he probably thinks that he is reading.
I understand girls do sit longer & look more intently at books (I have 2 DS's) than little boys. Also app it is normal for chidren to always want to look at the same books.
Really don't think it sounds like your son has ADHD! And agree with Rubyslippers, 18 months is still young to expect him to sit & properly read a book. If I were you I would be happy that he's so interested in books at such a young age. And if you feel he's bored with his books why not take him to the library & let him select some books himself?

So had your mum taught you the alphabet by 8 months then? My 11 month son still hasn't said a proper word, let alone tell me the alphabet!

ah, but did yours know it in MANDARIN?

Of course, I assumed you meant Mandarin, actually

Sorry if this is obvious, but are you choosing books with very little text? DS would wizz through at that age if there was more than about a sentence on the page. He still, at 27 months, prefers short amounts of text unless there is a very strong rhythym (like Hairy McClary) or it is about a train. Otherwise it sounds great that he loves books.

from what i remember ds1 was just the same - he would like to look at books with you but would not listen to a whole story. I can't remember exactly when it changed but now he is 2.6 he loves to be read to....your ds will get there....

I highly recommend a book called ''Dear Zoo'' - by I think Rod Cambell. It's a lift the flap book that ds1 loved and still does.....

DS is 2.6 and still a whizzer and basher! He won't leave the page long enough to let me read the words, so we still discuss the pictures... I had visions of reading stories at bedtime by now, I daren't bring a book near him at bedtime at the moment as it excites him too much!

Dd at 18 months 'read' everything very fast. We never bothered with the actual stories at that age, just did a bit of pointing out. Now at 2.4, she will happily sit through a story as long as 'The Gruffalo'.
She loves 'Dear Zoo' too, has done for ages. There's another one by the same man which is the same concept called something like 'My Presents' - also really good.
I agree with the other posters - the fact that he loves books so much is great, even if it is at breakneck speed!