Once upon a time: growing a love of books in the early years
There is a particular kind of quiet that settles over a room when a story begins. Little bodies lean in. Someone tucks their knees up under their chin. A hand creeps onto the page to point at the dog hiding behind the tree. If you have ever read to a small child at bedtime, you know that quiet. It is one of the loveliest things about being a parent, and it is also where a lifelong love of reading quietly begins.
Reading starts long before reading
Reading itself often arrives in Grade 1, when letters start turning into words. The love of books begins much earlier, in a lap, with a favourite story read for the fifteenth time. Every time you read together, your child is learning that books hold surprises, that pictures carry meaning, that words have rhythm, and that this is a warm, safe time with someone who loves them.
Babies who are read to hear thousands of words they would not meet in everyday conversation. Toddlers who join in with a repeated line, “and he huffed, and he puffed”, are practising memory and sound patterns. Preschoolers who ask “why is she sad?” are learning to understand other people’s feelings. All of this is reading, long before your child reads a single word.
Small habits that make a big difference
The most powerful thing you can do is also the simplest: read a little every day, at a time that feels cosy and unhurried. Bedtime works beautifully for many families, but so does a story over breakfast or in the car park before school.
Let your child choose the book, even when it is the same one again. Repetition is how young children master language, and the joy of knowing what comes next is part of the fun. Pause to wonder out loud together. “What do you think will happen?” and “How would you feel if that happened to you?” turn a story into a conversation.
And let them see you reading too, whether that is a novel, a recipe or the back of the cereal box. Children copy what they see, and a home where grown-ups enjoy words is a home where children grow up enjoying them.
How stories live in the day at Junior Colleges Raslouw
At Junior Colleges Raslouw, our preschool in Centurion, learning happens through play and through children’s own questions, and stories fit naturally into both. A tale about a caterpillar can lead to a search for bugs outside. A picture book about a new baby can open a gentle conversation about big feelings at home. A song with actions becomes a story the whole class tells with their bodies.
Our teachers follow where the children’s curiosity leads, so a favourite book often becomes a week of make-believe, drawing, building and retelling. Children who are just finding their words get to play with language in ways that feel like fun, and children who are bursting with ideas get to become storytellers themselves.
Because we care for little ones from six weeks old right through to Grade 00, we see that love of books grow over years. Babies discover soft board books and the sound of a familiar voice. Toddlers begin to point, name and join in. By Grade 00, children are beginning to recognise letters, hearing the sounds in words and proudly “reading” a favourite story back to their friends. Along the way, our Christian values of love and respect shape the stories we share and the way children learn to listen to one another.
A gift that lasts a lifetime
A child who loves books carries that love with them into big school and far beyond. They become curious learners, kind listeners and confident speakers. It all starts with those quiet moments of leaning in together, turning the page, and wondering what happens next.
If you are looking at preschools in Centurion and would love a place where stories are part of every day, we would be delighted to welcome you to Raslouw. Come and see Junior Colleges Raslouw, meet our teachers and feel the warmth of our classrooms for yourself. Book a tour and bring your little reader along.
