When should you start reading to your baby? According to numerous experts, there’s no such thing as “too soon.” From the time your sweet bundle enters the world, he or she is the right age for read-aloud stories. Hearing parents or caregivers read teaches babies communication, helps them learn the sounds needed to speak their native language, and builds listening, memory and vocabulary skills. And the frosting on that cake? It promotes parent-child bonding and, down the road, academic success.
One way to engage in reading to babies and toddlers is by joining the Schaumburg Township District Library’s (STDL) 1001 Books Before Kindergarten, a reading incentive program for children from birth to five years old. Parents and guardians can sign up at the Central Library, 130 S. Roselle Rd., at the branch libraries in Hoffman Estates and Hanover Park or online at SchaumburgLibrary.org/read
Upon registering for the program, children will receive a reading log, their first badge sticker and a colorful tote bag. Each time parents and children read 100 books together, they’ll receive another badge sticker to place on their reading log. Badges and reading logs are colorfully designed with the artwork of children’s book illustrator Takako Fisher. In addition to the badges, kids will earn a small prize or activity for every hundred books read. Each spring, the library will host a graduation ceremony with entertainment and activities for children who have finished reading 1001 books.
Participants are able to track their reading status online at SchaumburgLibrary.org/read. Upon registration, library staff will explain how the program works and how to track books, and will answer questions about the program.
Other reading incentive programs at STDL include:
- 100 Book Before Baby,
- 500 Minutes a Month for school-age kids,
- 100 Books Before High School for tweens,
- 100 Books Before Graduation for teens and Diverse Reads for adults.
For more information on any of the reading programs, call the library at (847) 985-4000.
