My Boy Gets Bored And Distracted When I Read To Him

Question: My 2 year old boy gets very bored and distracted when I try to read to him. Any advice?

Answer: Spending the quality time with your child and sharing a book should not be a boring and uninteresting moment for both of you. The reality however is that at 24 months, their attention span can be really short and so, to make the best of the moment, the time spent with a book in hand should be made meaningful and fun.

Try the following ways to make reading to your 2 year old fun.

Auditory Input

Vary the tone, pitch and projection of the voice each time a new character is introduced for when the page is turned.

Visual & kinesthetic Input

Choose books that might have moving or more tactile parts so that your child can be participative in the reading process through sensitizing their other senses.

Importance of dramatisation

Be creative and add in some use of props. A simple pair of glasses or a mask works wonders!

LEAP Schoolhouse has an ‘Ask and Learn’ section every Thursday. If you have any questions regarding language or literacy development, feel free to drop your questions in the comment box below, or post them on LEAP SchoolHouse Facebook page.

Esther-and-her-three-kids-small In this Ask The Expert section, we asked Esther Lim, CEO and Founder of LEAP SchoolHouse, about language and literacy development in children. Born and educated in Singapore, she holds a Master Degree in Education (NTU/NIE), Bachelor Degree in Arts (NTU), Diploma in Marketing – Top student for the year 2000 (Chartered Institute of Marketing). Esther has more than 10 years of teaching experience and has taught widely in both Secondary and Primary schools. She was also involved in curriculum planning and development work for the primary unit at MOE for several years. Esther has also conducted workshops and talks for educators, locally and overseas. Besides all the above credentials, Esther is also a mother of three children.