5 Tips for Creating Great Homemade Books
Homemade books are fun. They are custom-made for your child and children love to read them. Parents love to watch their children read but often find it daunting to write homemade books. When starting off on your child’s Doman Method® Reading Program, here are five tips to help you with content ideas for your child’s homemade books:
Start with subjects that your child loves: The top of the list for the success of your reading program is to get your child’s attention! And what better way than showing them the things they love? The question you should ask yourself is, “What is my child’s favorite - food, color, activity, place, person, toy?” It's a great place to start for a homemade book. This is my personal favorite go-to topic when starting the reading program. You already have your child’s attention with the topic and them looking at it is a breeze. It is a new way of looking at something your child absolutely adores - with words!
Start with the familiar: Close to the most favorite things is that which is familiar. Familiarity includes family members, daily routine, your child’s Doman MethodTM program, sibling’s routine, visits to grandma, the neighborhood park, and grocery shopping. “It is familiar” is a good place to start and easy for pictures too! Also, the upside to making books about the regular activities of the day is that you will have your child’s cooperation in everyday matters. They will learn to see the value of their participation in those activities!
Songs and poems are a hit: Your child probably knows these by-heart even if they may not be able say the words out loud. These are a fun break in the day and create a new learning pathway for the all-too-familiar song or poem when presented in a homemade book. Just make certain that you don’t have the music on when you present a book with lyrics. After all, reading is a visual program.
Special events and holidays call for homemade books to be made. These are special occasions like birthdays, holidays, weddings and picnics. These are also times when many pictures are taken. A book describing all that your child did and the people they met, would be something they would love to read about over and over again. A superb way to celebrate good times. Holidays offer a good opportunity to teach about the history of the holiday and the stories behind it.
Introduce new people and places before your child experiences them: Meeting new people and going to new places doesn’t have to be a stressful time for you or your child. A homemade book can be great preparation and an ideal rescue prior to such events. Children often look for the familiar in an unfamiliar situation. A baby is on its way, your child is meeting an uncle for the first time, you are all going to Aunt Ann’s house, you are traveling on an airplane, you’re going on a visit to the museum or a visit to Doman International… These are all perfect situations to prepare your child for beforehand using homemade books. Not only will your child be excited about the new experience, but they will be equipped with what to do and what to expect. They will be able to enjoy their time in the new situation without feeling apprehensive. Try to include pictures of people and places significant to the new experience in your book.
Children are curious about everything that goes on around them. Your homemade book is a way to show them the world through words. Quite literally, through their eyes. If you think about it, it is quite an exciting treat for your child to see in writing something they know about. It is also a reliable way to introduce ideas to them that they are yet to learn about. I hope these recommendations for creating homemade books helps your Doman Method® Reading Program be enjoyable and a delight for your child.
Written by: Niyati Patel