Benefits of reading aloud to children

The bed-time story is a daily feature in the life of many families with small kids, and reading aloud to children has numerous benefits for children and, perhaps surprisingly, for parents too. Parents and carers are advised to start reading to babies as young as six months and many still read to kids as old as nine and ten, despite the fact that the children can (and often do) read for themselves.

• The most obvious and arguably the biggest benefit of reading to children is creating and developing the “book habit”. The two most sure-fire ways to get children reading for pleasure as well as for learning is to provide a model (i.e. read yourself) and read aloud to children who cannot yet read. A child hooked on reading from an early age will not be able to imagine a life without books, and as they grow older and develop their own reading ability, will want to read themselves.
• Creates "Family Time" - In this day and age of hectic lives and busy schedules, reading together is a simple and enjoyable way for parents to take time out and focus on the family. Young children need lots of special, dedicated time with their loved ones.  Reading to your child is a wonderful bonding experience that fosters meaningful one-on-one communication with our kids. It shows our children in no uncertain terms that they are important to us.
• Other Benefits To Reading To Your Child include:
• It helps our children master language development.
• It builds listening skills, increases a child's attention span, and develops the ability to concentrate at length of which all are learned skills.
• It develops children's ability to express themselves more confidently, easily, and clearly.
• It develops and fosters a child's natural curiosity.
• It develops creativity and a child's ability to use their own imagination!
• It expands our children's horizons, quells fears, exposes them to new situations, and teaches them appropriate behavior.
• Reading children's stories to our children provides the best opportunities for true " teaching moments ."
• Reading picture books develops a young child's appreciation for the arts through exposure to many different styles of art and illustrations.
• Reading children's stories aloud to our kids is just plain FUN!!

There is so much that reading children's stories aloud to our kids can do for them. Let's not negate this vital part of a child's development.