Twins Learning To Read

Helping your twins learn to love reading is key to them learning the very skill itself.   It’s never too early to share a book with your twins and it can start right from the beginning when you’re trying to soothe them off to sleep with the sound of your voice.

Reading to your twins can be part of your daily routine whether it be during the day or at bedtime. Finding the time to sit down and share a book is one of the pleasures of parenting and with twins it’s no different, just snuggle up with one at each side and enjoy the moment.  Not only does shared reading time give quality time but it will improve your twins language, vocabulary and future reading success and it really is beneficial from the word go.

Getting The Most Out of Reading With Your Twins

Make sure you are all comfortable and everyone can see the pictures, you don’t want any extra distractions from one or the other complaining that they can’t see the pictures.  Of course, if opportunities (unlikely) present themselves for one to one reading time then grasp them with both hands.

Take your time and talk about the cover of the book and what they might think the book is about.  Talk about the pictures as you go through the story; your twins will soon feel encouraged to participate.  Ask them what they think may happen next or if they can spot a picture – you’ll need to adopt a “take turns” approach but really this is beneficial to your twins development as well.

Be mindful of the types of books your twins enjoy.  Do they like touchy feely books, brightly coloured books, and what subject matter seems to grab their attention? Try and provide your twins with a variety of books but don’t be afraid to read their favourite books over and over again if they love them; repetition creates familiarity and associations which also helps with language development.

Singing lullabies or nursery rhymes are often firm favourites with babies and toddlers and encourage them to join in with clapping actions etc.

As your twins get older (ages 3-5) start taking them to the library to choose their own books.  The process of selecting their own books includes and empowers them in the whole reading adventure.

You may like to choose books that focus on certain learning concepts such as counting or the ABC but don’t forget to include lots of non-fiction topics such as transport, animals or perhaps space that your children seem interested in.

How do I know if my Twins are ready to learn to read? 

Learning to read is a very individual development stage no different from when a child is ready to be potty trained or indeed learning to walk.  Unfortunately, there seems to be enormous pressure for our children to learn the skill of reading at a very young age and often before they are naturally ready to do so.

Whatever you do as parents, let your child be the guide as to whether they are ready or not, follow their lead.  If you push too early or too far they can lose their desire to master the skill and the whole process can become one of frustration.  Give them the opportunities to learn and build their skills by having access to books, paper and various writing materials. Pay attention to your children’s speaking vocabulary and listening abilities as this may be the best indicator as to whether they may be ready to try the next steps.

With twins you may still notice big differences in meeting their milestones and learning to read may be no different.  Despite both twins being exposed to the same home environment and learning opportunities, the pace can still vary widely.  My first set of twins  (fraternal girl/boy) couldn’t have been more different when it came to learning to read and now at age 9 our son has his head permanently in a book and our daughter having dyslexia finds reading a difficult and frustrating process.

I am also a mother of identical twins who are currently 4.  They appear to be at a very similar stage of the reading process as one another but we are at the beginning and often they can switch roles with one another.  Sometimes one twin will appear more outwardly knowledgeable giving the impression she has the edge but the other is just quietly confident surprising us when she chooses.