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Reading with your kids is one of the best things you can do with them to help their development. It can help them to develop in a number of different ways, not to mention being a wonderful bonding activity for you both to enjoy. This post will fill you in on some of the benefits of reading with your kids, as well as give you some great tips to do it effectively. Enjoy!
Excel at School
When you read to your kids, especially from a very young age, they tend to excel at school. They develop all kinds of essential skills, as well as their imaginations. At a lot of schools,parents are encouraged to enroll their children as early as 16 weeks. While this may appear to be quite young, early childhood education research suggests that 16 weeks old is the age that a child is able to interact with an early learning curriculum that focuses on skills such as handling objects, walking, and beginner literacy.
All of these things combined help them to be model students. If you want your child to come home with A star report cards, then one of the best ways you can help them is by reading with them.
Improved Speech
Your child can easily improve their speech by listening to you read and by reading to you. They’ll practice saying different words, even if it's just pretending. The more they get used to it, the more confident they’ll be as they learn to read and speak.
Ability to Communicate Better
If you read to your kids from a young age, you can expect them to communicate better as they grow. They might learn all kinds of new words. They’ll be able to express what they are feeling and thinking much earlier on. This will make growing up much better for them and being a parent easier for you.
Logical Thinking
As books present children will new situations and problems to be solved, it can help them with their logical thinking skills. They’ll find new ways to solve problems and be able to piece things together that they may never have even considered before. This kind of thing can help them in all aspects of their lives!
Improved Listening
As you read to your child, they might not be able to follow on the words of the book very well. That doesn’t mean they aren’t listening to you! In fact, they’ll likely be listening intently, to hear what happens in the next part of the story. If you want your child to have amazing listening skills, reading to them is one of the best ways to help.
New Experiences
New experiences can be scary for young children. Not knowing what to expect is scary for anybody, but as they are fairly new to the world, their experiences can seem even scarier. Not only that, their emotions can feel far more intense while they are young.
The smallest change can seem like the end of the world! Stories will help them to see that it’s normal for them to feel this way, and introduce them to a whole range of new experiences. If they are starting school, maybe read a book with them about somebody who is starting school. It’ll help them to ease their worries!
Better Concentration
Reading can help your child improve their concentration, especially when they get lost in a book that they really love. It’s easy for children to flip from novelty project to novelty project, but reading gives them the opportunity to stay focused for a lot longer.
Develop a Love of Reading
One of the main benefits of reading to your child regularly is that they will develop a love of reading. This is a healthy hobby that will stay with them for years to come, well into adulthood. There are a number of incredible benefits they can enjoy from it as they age, so starting early is a wonderful idea.
Bonding Time With You
Last but not least, you and your child get to spend lots of time bonding together. As they grow, they will be into everything. As they play and learn, you likely won’t be spending as much time bonding with them. Reading can give you the opportunity to bond, even better than ever before! You’ll both benefit from reading to them in this way.
Read to Them With Enthusiasm
When reading to your child, read to them with enthusiasm. This will keep them interested and show them just how fun reading can be. If there are different characters in the story, maybe you could put on different voices to entertain them. By simply making sure you’re not reading in a monotonous voice, you’ll excite them and make them want to read more.
Have Them Read a Little Too
This will depend on your child’s age, but as soon as they can you should have them read a little bit too. Even if they are very slow and their words don’t flow very well, it’ll be fun for them and make them more confident in developing their speaking skills. You can help them along if you need to, but being patient with them is key. Soon, they’ll be reading just like you!
Get Into a Relaxing Routine
When you read to your child, make sure you get into a relaxing routine with them. You don’t want your reading time to feel rushed ever, as this stops it from being as much fun. Get into a routine where you read at the same time each night. Reading before bed can be relaxing, and is much healthier than watching TV.
Let Them Read the Same Book
Your child will likely go through a phase where they get obsessed with a certain book and want to read it over and over. Reading is supposed to be pleasurable for them, so let them do this! Eventually, they’ll move on.
Surround Them With Choice
Surround your child with choice, so they can always pick an exciting book to read. You can start building their library as early on as you like.
1/12/18 Hey there! Now you see the benefits of reading to your kids and you have some tips to get started, you have no excuse! This will be a lot of fun for the both of you and help you to strengthen your bond. Enjoy! PS My kids have always loved Magic tree House 🙂
Krystle Cook – the creator of Home Jobs by MOM – put her psychology degree on a shelf and dived into a pile of diapers and dishes instead. She is a wife and mother to two rambunctious boys, sweating it out in her Texas hometown. She loves cooking, DIY home projects, and family fun activities.
Wow, didnt know there were all these added benefits from reading with kids asides from learning. Thanks for such an enlightening post. Will share with all my friends with kids.
Reading with your children is where their love of reading begins. Some of my favorite memories with my mom were when she read big books with me as a child. I hope my daughter keep those same memories too.
I love reading with my little one. I used to read to her and from first to second grade she has started reading to me, she does so well and is so confident.
Isn’t it awesome when our habits and passions rub off on our kids? I’ve never liked when I saw the negative ones start popping up but I truly enjoy seeing the good ones like a love for reading.
My sister does this with her kids every night. It has instilled a love of reading, especially with my nephew. He can’t get enough of books. Reading does offer so many benefits to little minds.
We love reading with our kiddos! We do it every single night, and last night my six year old read to me twice. He was overjoyed! There are so many benefits, not to mention its comforting and fun to spend that quality time together.
Yes, it’s definitely quality time spent showing your child you not only care about their development but you care about spending time with them. So glad to hear this!
It sounds like they truly love reading with you. It’s wonderful when parents make it fun and a bonding moment, it leaves kids with the feeling of protection and love when reading.
I can’t overstate how real this is!! My mom (she’s a librarian now, so I guess it all makes sense!) read to us ALL the time when we were little, and I know my brother and I could read way before anyone else our age. And now, at 19 and 16, we still love reading!!
I read with my daughter, honestly, from the first day. She grew up with a love of reading and was always several reading levels ahead of her classmates!
I have two sisters who live far apart from each other and one is a childcare teacher and the other a nurse. Their kids are so completely different and it’s incredible how having the education early makes such a difference! The program in Edmonton sounds like an awesome one.
It makes a HUGE difference. We would like to think that getting kids into school at the right age, they’ll be fine. However, it has to start before that at an earlier age.
Reading was an everyday occurrence in our home when my 7 kids were little. It really hit home when after a few years I’d see at least 5 reading on their own and loving it. Thanks for this post.
Speaking from experience, I was a teachers aide in a preK class for years. We always knew from the childs language level, their writing skills, and their recognition of letters, when a parent read to them. It really makes all the difference! Plus it’s really a great way to bond with your kids.
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My grandkids LOVE to read. Some of their favorite books are the National Geographic ones about animals.
Animal books are always great. My kids also love science ones.
My little girl loves to throw her books around. When it comes to reading them she likes her Dory and Elmo books the best.
I love reading in general so it is a constant in my life. Reading to my children at bedtime was one way of slowing down very active boys.
Wow, didnt know there were all these added benefits from reading with kids asides from learning. Thanks for such an enlightening post. Will share with all my friends with kids.
Reading with your children is where their love of reading begins. Some of my favorite memories with my mom were when she read big books with me as a child. I hope my daughter keep those same memories too.
Sounds like you had some really good childhood memories with your mother. I’m sure they will be special to your daughter too!
We always read to our kids when they were young, and then when they learned to read, they read to us. Those are some great memories now.
How sweet! I think reading to your kids is always a great tradition. Sometimes even my oldest reads to my youngest. Melts my heart 🙂
I love reading to my kids. My daughter is almost an independent reader now, so I think it is time to switch to them reading to me!
That’s always an amazing feeling when that moment comes, switching roles with your child! Good for you, thank you for sharing that!
I love reading with my little one. I used to read to her and from first to second grade she has started reading to me, she does so well and is so confident.
That is so wonderful to read. It sounds like you switched rolls as she got older. That’s what all parents hope for!
My daughter always liked anything she could get her hands on (just like her mom). She loved reading and being read to.
Isn’t it awesome when our habits and passions rub off on our kids? I’ve never liked when I saw the negative ones start popping up but I truly enjoy seeing the good ones like a love for reading.
My sister does this with her kids every night. It has instilled a love of reading, especially with my nephew. He can’t get enough of books. Reading does offer so many benefits to little minds.
Little minds are mostly empty as far as knowledge goes and books can offer a wealth of knowledge that completely changes their lives as they age.
We love reading with our kiddos! We do it every single night, and last night my six year old read to me twice. He was overjoyed! There are so many benefits, not to mention its comforting and fun to spend that quality time together.
Yes, it’s definitely quality time spent showing your child you not only care about their development but you care about spending time with them. So glad to hear this!
My kids and I love to read together. My daughter tried to read to me as well and it is really cute! It is so beneficial to read to the kids.
It sounds like they truly love reading with you. It’s wonderful when parents make it fun and a bonding moment, it leaves kids with the feeling of protection and love when reading.
We have 3 bookshelves in our house and read to our books daily. Our oldest started reading by himself at 2 1/2!
Wow, that is such an early age to begin reading! Good for you guys on fostering an environment that produces the love of reading!
Yes! Reading with young children is so essential to their development. I love all of these tips and tidbits you shared. Such a wonderful post!
I’m glad you enjoyed it so much! I fully agree that it’s essential!
I can’t overstate how real this is!! My mom (she’s a librarian now, so I guess it all makes sense!) read to us ALL the time when we were little, and I know my brother and I could read way before anyone else our age. And now, at 19 and 16, we still love reading!!
That is wonderful! It sounds like your mother passed on her love for books and literature to you. It definitely makes a difference when growing up.
So many benefits of reading with the kids. I grew up with a love of books and was always ahead of classmates in the reading levels.
It helps kids get ahead so much when parents start teaching them at home way before school age. Sounds like you had parents who knew that!
I read with my daughter, honestly, from the first day. She grew up with a love of reading and was always several reading levels ahead of her classmates!
It makes quite the difference, doesn’t it? I was always thankful I had parents who taught me to read early on.
I have two sisters who live far apart from each other and one is a childcare teacher and the other a nurse. Their kids are so completely different and it’s incredible how having the education early makes such a difference! The program in Edmonton sounds like an awesome one.
It makes a HUGE difference. We would like to think that getting kids into school at the right age, they’ll be fine. However, it has to start before that at an earlier age.
Having 7 adult children now I remember four of them loved Corduroy. Reading it over and over. 🙂
That was such a fun book. Definitely one I remember from my childhood as well. Your children must be closer to my age.
Reading was an everyday occurrence in our home when my 7 kids were little. It really hit home when after a few years I’d see at least 5 reading on their own and loving it. Thanks for this post.
It’s wonderful that you took the time between seven kids, to ensure they had a love for reading. It makes like just a little easier for them.
Speaking from experience, I was a teachers aide in a preK class for years. We always knew from the childs language level, their writing skills, and their recognition of letters, when a parent read to them. It really makes all the difference! Plus it’s really a great way to bond with your kids.
I couldn’t agree more! The cognitive levels all the way around of a child who was introduced to reading at an early age are heightened.