Reading to Children

"When you read with your child, you show them that reading is important, but you also show them they're important - that they are so important to you that you will spend 20 minutes a day with your arm around them." ~Laura Bush

Taking time to read to your children is a truly unselfish act of love.

When I think of reading to children, I think of stopping time. By that I mean that it takes putting everything else on hold.

This means, leaving whatever I have left undone (laundry, dishes, computer time) and devoting that time and my undivided attention to them. Sometimes it’s hard.

I wish I was better at this. We don’t read together every night, but I try as often as I can to read a “bed-time story” to my children.

We usually choose to read something that we all agree on and sometimes, if we start early enough in the evening, everyone gets to choose their own book.

There are a few books that I refuse to read (how mean am I?). I will not read super long books (by the end, everyone has lost interest and my voice is gone). And I will not read Star Wars or science fiction books. I’m sorry, I just can’t take it!!

Reading to children before bed is a great chance to get them calmed down and in the quiet bed-time mode. I noticed a big difference in behavior when we have or haven’t read before bed.

Here are just a few tidbits I found when I Googled "statistics about reading to children":

“Children develop literacy related skills long before they are able to read. By reading aloud to their young children, parents can help them acquire the prerequisite skills they will need to learn to read in school. Being read to has been identified as a source of children's early literacy development, including knowledge about the alphabet, print, and characteristics of written language.

By the age of 2, children who are read to regularly display greater anguage comprehension, larger vocabularies and higher cognitive skills than their peers. Shared parent-child book reading during children's preschool years leads to higher reading achievement in elementary school as well as greater enthusiasm for reading and learning. In addition, being read to aids in the socioemotional development of young children, and gives them the skills to become independent readers and transition from infancy to toddlerhood.”

www.childtrendsdatabank.org (emphasis added)

So what are the reasons why you should NOT read to your child?

Hmmm. You can’t think of a good one, can you???

So here are my easy, reading to children tips that are sure to make you successful!

1. Decide on how often you’ll read to your child (daily, weekly) and be consistent.

2. Decide on a time of day you’ll read and be consistent.

3. Go to the library together once in awhile for a greater selection.

4. Make it a habit.

Commit today that you are going to start reading to your child. It’s so important for so many reasons.