If your child has just started kindergarten, you probably are very familiar with the requirement to read with him or her for at least 20 minutes per day. But for parents, whose top goal in life is to ensure that our children succeed in theirs, we shouldn’t view reading with our kids as a mandatory chore – something we have to do just because someone else says so. Reading with your child should begin very early, even before public school starts, because the benefits are quite significant.
“Reading aloud to young children, particularly in an engaging manner, promotes emerging literacy and language development and supports the relationship between child and parent,” concludes a review in a 2008 issue of Archives of Disease in Childhood.
Academic Success
Reading with your child beginning in toddlerhood has been shown to improve learning later on in grade school. Numerous studies show that kids expose to reading before preschool are more likely to do well in all facets of formal education, not just language but math, science, and in their social interactions as well. It also builds listening skills, increases a child’s attention span, and develops the ability to concentrate at length – all of which are learned skills. Children who are the most prepared for school are read to at least three times a week.
Basic Speech Skills, Improved Communication
Reading helps a child build on skills that are critical to language and enunciation. Children also gain important communication skills from reading books; they are likely to learn the vocabulary to help express themselves which will cut down on the frustration they may feel when they want to tell you something but do not know how. Even reading to babies is important for gaining early language skills by exposing him or her to the vowels, consonants, and syllables they will soon be speaking.
Emotional Development
Reading to and with children develops a child’s natural curiosity about the world. It expands their horizons, quells fears, exposes them to new situations and teaches them appropriate behavior.
Parent Bonding Time
Taking the time to read to your child creates a bond that builds a strong relationship that you both will be the better for. Reading at bedtime, for example, creates a routine that makes a child feel safe and secure and they will likely sleep better because of it. And adequate sleep is very important to school success. As a parent, you will enjoy the time to slow down the pace a bit – take time away from the chaos of the “real world” and explore a fantasyland with your kids.
Brain Exercise
Reading is more neurobiologically demanding that processing images or speech, says Ken Pugh PhD, president and director of research at Haskins Laboratories which is devoted to the science of language. While reading, your brain is challenged which keeps memory sharp. Even reading to babies is cognitively stimulating and can help accelerate mental growth and awareness of his or her surroundings.
The most important thing you can do each and every day is to set aside some time for reading with your child. USA Today offers some fun strategies to get your children interested in the written word:
- For young children reading picture books, connect the illustrations to the words in the book by running your finger under each word as you pronounce it. Exaggerate your expression and intonation and use your hands to give emphasis to the story. Encourage your child to make up stories about the illustrations on the pages. Ask questions about characters, settings and plot. These prompts will get your child to think ahead as well as think through feasible plot twists
- Think outside the box – if your son likes sports, read a motivational article from Sports Illustrated. Or read together a chapter at a time of Harry Potter. You can create voices for the characters for a fun spin on reading time. Even cooking together can be a fun way to incorporate reading and bonding with your child. Have your child follow along in a written recipe, pointing to an ingredient on the list and match it with the actual one.
- If your child prefers to read on his own, get together afterward to discuss the book with them. They may have questions about what they’ve read, unfamiliar words, or it may spur a conversation about something that’s bothering them that you can work out together.
- Check your local library's calendar for story times and attend as frequently as possible. Being in a room with other children your child's age will increase his enjoyment of books. While you are there, get everyone their own library card!
- As you travel through your day look for "environmental" print wherever you go: the "Stop" in the stop sign, the "Exit" sign in the restaurant or the name of your child's favorite bookstore are part of so-called "environmental" reading. Ask your child to find three new words each day so you can discuss their meaning and usage.
- Ask your children's teachers to give you a list of books they will be reading this year. Preview the books with your children at the library or a local bookstore so they will be familiar with them once the reading assignments begin.
- Start a library for your child at home. "A house without books is like a room without windows," said Heinreich Mann. Keep your child's books accessible at eye level so he can look through them whenever he pleases. Teach your child to close books when done and how to put them back on the bookshelf.
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