Read To Your Child Every Single Day

Make time to read to your children each and everyday. That’s not a suggestion. This is something that you need to do. Reading to your child at a young age will have a positive impact on literally everything that they do for the rest of their life. Take 15 minutes and read aloud to your child. Do it for you. Do it for your kid. Do it because it makes a difference.

Benefits of Reading To Your Child

Create opportunities for your child to read. if you want a smart kid. Children that have a love of reading excel academically. Create a language rich environment with books, magazines, newspapers, and catalogs. See the delight in your child’s eyes when the light bulb goes off.

A Strong Relationship With You

We stress this one a lot. Having a grounded relationship with your child is fundamental to their mental health. As your child grows they will be running around and playing a lot. Almost non-stop. Take the time to slow down and read for a few minutes. Make it an activity and part of you and your child’s day.

Critical Thinking

Reading to your child exposes them to new situations that they have not thought of before. This is a really big moment for your kid. You have introduced abstract thinking. Talk about what is going in the story that is going on and how it relates to their world.

Language, Communication and Speech

The younger the better. Your toddler is grasping for information. They absorb everything around them at a staggering pace. When you read to your child they are picking up the basics of your language. Sounding out words is the basics of their pre-language skills.

As your child becomes older they will begin to identify with the characters in the stories you and they are reading. Exposing them to these situations and vocabulary will help them express themselves and relate to others.

Be Ahead of the Class

Reading is the foundation of any curriculum. The more you read to your child now the more they will understand when they get to school. When you read to your child you are creating the building blocks for learning anything. Once they understand that picking up new ideas is much easier.

Don’t Take It For Granted

Think about this for one minute. Even today, we live in a world where certain individuals were forbidden to learn to read and write. There are still places in the world that women are forbidden to go to school. There is one thing in this world that someone can never take away from you… your education. It’s your job as a parent to give them one.

Make It a Real Book

In the age of digital text it’s very easy to overlook the printed word. A recent national survey found that technology is an easy distraction for children. Having a tangible, permanent object is something that your child can relate to. It’s always there, on the shelf, waiting to be read. If it’s in the cloud, it’s out of sight out of mind. Get out there and get some books. Below are some great places to find some good ones. Also check out our summer reading list.

Where To Get Great Books

• Book Stores Your kids will find this to be a great adventure. Set the ground rules before you go. When kids know what your expectations are they do a lot better. Check out your local bookstore’s calendar for story time read-alouds.
• Libraries Going to the library should be an adventure a special treat. Many libraries now offer summer reading programs as well as reading lists for kids by grade level.
• Thrift Stores You can find wonderful books at thrift stores that are very inexpensive.
• Museums Visit the gift shop and pickup a book that will re-enforce all the wonders that you saw in the museum that day.
• Book Share Create a book share with your friends. Discussing your favorite children’s books creates a wonderful opportunity with family and friends. Your kids will love shopping for their new treasures.

Do you read to your child everyday? What are their favorite books?