My Son's IPad...

Yes, you read that correctly. My SON is the proud owner of an iPad mini. He got it for his second birthday. What does he do with it? He learns many nursery rhymes courtesy of Fisher Price, he learns stories thanks to Nosy Crow, and he learns his letters, numbers, colors and shapes thanks to many other developers. My son is not yet two and a half, but he knows the entire upper and lower case alphabet by sight. He can count to 20 and can count backwards from 10. He knows so many names of shapes I am shocked (pentagon? decagon?) and he knows all the colors of the rainbow plus grey, pink, brown, black and white. While I wish I could say I taught him all of this myself, I have come to conclusion that the IPad is his teacher, and I simply reinforce what he is taught in his virtual classroom. I make sure we play games based on what he is learning throughout the day. When we are out on a walk we will spot things he sees in the stories he is read (ex: trees, traffic lights, zucchini or peppers at the supermarket). We sing the songs he learns throughout the day, and my most favorite, I watch him draw circles or certain letters on the window when they are fogged up. It is such an incredible thing to see how my child takes what he sees on a screen and applies it to paper and the world around him.

I see people judge me ALL the time. They tell me it's extremely bad for him and that I should be ashamed that he has "so much screen time" (how do you know how much time he has on this device? What makes you think he is always on it?) but I am not and I take pride in the fact that I am a mom not ashamed to say my son can navigate an Apple product better than I can. He has learned SO MUCH from his preschool education apps that I truly believe this tool is essential in teaching early literacy. There are many different ways to teach reading skills. What better way to teach the letters than an interactive interface? It's 2014, there is no way children can get along in this world without technology, so put the right apps on your IPad and give your child the gift of reading on a whole new fun and engaging level.

Disclaimer: My son does not sit on his IPad all day. He has time limits because I believe that it is important he does not stare at a screen for a prolong amount of time and he also needs to talk to people and read books and eat and play outdoors....

Board Books

Those very square supposedly unbreakable short books that somehow find their way into every baby's mouth - those are "board books". While the claim is they are more sturdy than regular picture books, somehow their binds crack and they seem to get ripped apart as soon as a baby gets teeth. No worries! You are still teaching your child literacy because they are learning how to handle a book during this process. Seems impossible right? Actually, holding that book makes the baby look at the words and pictures, so they are learning books have words and pictures.

There is no such thing as a "bad book" to give a baby or toddler, but some are definitely better choices than others. It's a great idea to mix it up at story time for your little ones. It is great to show off books that have one picture per page with the word underneath (or above it) and children greatly benefit from touch and feel books, but don't stop there! You would be surprised at how long your toddler can actually sit. Be wary of books that are shortened into board books, they don't always make sense, while others are excellent like Dr. Seuss's "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You"? or "Go Dog, Go!" by P.D. Eastman. By the time my son was two years old he was able to repeat these books by heart.

Babies also love to look at other babies and there are great books that go through daily sequencing or colors starring cute ones that are definitely worth investing in. Remember, it is okay if during story time with your baby or toddler they take the book from your hand and decide you aren't going to finish the story. It is important they flip through it on their own and explore the beauty of the physical book. There will be plenty of time to read the book cover to cover over time. Enjoy this precious together time!