I remember when I was little, my grandmother would sit me down and we would read stories together. She would read fairy tales, poems, and classical stories. And when she read, I used to imagine that I was part of the story. Sometimes I would be the main character and other times I would hide in a forest and watch the story unfold. Each day, I looked forward to our reading time because I loved spending time with her and I had fun imagining being in a fairy tale.  When you were little did your parents or grandparents read to you?

Why reading matters

AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) and the Reading Rockets recommend that you read to your child everyday. But that doesn’t mean it has to be a huge project! Reading to your child should be rewarding and fun. You can read a 3-minute story or a 30-minute story to your kids everyday as long as it keeps your child engaged and interested. By reading you are enhancing your child’s knowledge and exposing them to a wealth of information and experiences they might not otherwise enjoy.

The benefits of reading

When you are reading to your child you are not only stimulating their imagination, but their language development as well. Books expose kids to new words and through different stories they gather new meanings and uses for each word. As a result they are also improving their vocabulary.  Reading also teaches your children logical thinking skills and problem solving. They learn to recognize cause and effect and grasp abstract concepts. All of these skills are necessary for future academic success.

Setting the stage for learning

The period between ages 0-5 is critical for brain development and it sets the stage for all later learning and adult functioning. Studies conducted by the Center of the Developing Child at Harvard University have shown that from 50 children who had trouble learning to read in kindergarten, 44 of them continued to have problems once they were third grade. One way to increase your child’s participation is through dialogic reading, a technique to increase your child’s engagement with the story. Reading to your child is an easy and fun way to help your child succeed in the future.

Reading should be fun!

There are many ways that parents can engage with their kids besides a bedtime story. Libraries are an excellent resource. Check your local library to see if they have reading circles or hours specifically for preschool children. This can be a great opportunity for preschoolers to learn and socialize together. Parents can also mix art and reading together by encouraging their kids to draw when you are reading a story. This will fuel a child’s imagination and it will help to develop hand-eye coordination.

How often do you read to your children? Did you have a favorite book when you were a child?