The Invaluable Importance of Reading to Your Children

There have been many, many research studies on the influence reading to your children has on their educational growth, and in almost all of the studies done, reading to your children as early as six months of age has been proven not only as good parent child bonding, but as giving your children a good educational start in life. Reading to young children helps them tremendously in their ability to speak and use correct pronunciation and grammar. They learn to associate words with pictures, and then, later on, begin to learn what the words are and start picking them out on their own. Reading to your children also helps them learn to focus on one thing, and sit still, which is something they will need not only throughout their school career, but all through their adult lives. Books are the pathway to your children’s imagination, by stimulating the imagination, you are teaching them to be curious about the world around them, helping them to develop broader interests, and then turning their curiosity into knowledge.

As babies, we learn many of the things we do by mimicking our parents, and one of the first key things we learn this way is language. As you speak, your baby will often watch your mouth move, which is one of the ways they learn to talk. When you hold your baby, and read aloud, your baby is learning by listening to you. It is important to speak correctly, because you are in fact your child’s teacher, and it is likely he or she will make the same pronunciation errors as you do. Reading to your baby is a good way to help her develop her speech.

Once your baby gets older, if you have developed a routine of reading together, he will probably be advanced in his speech abilities. Once he masters that skill, he will be more interested in the pictures as you read, and will begin matching your words to the pictures that go along with the story. This will help him learn to associate objects with their appropriate names, and as he gets older, will help him learn to read on his own.

One of the most important things that reading to your children offers them is the ability to focus and hold their attention on that one thing. If you read to your child often, she will soon learn to enjoy that time together with you, and will give you her undivided attention during the story, sitting still until the end. This is one of the first skills that your child will need to learn in order to be successful in school, and by beginning at an early age, you are giving them a well deserved advantage.

Getting your children absorbed in books also helps to stimulate their imagination, which has been proven to advance their thinking power tremendously. They learn to pretend, and put themselves in the story, which often promotes a higher level of thinking. Children that are read to at an early age find it much easier to express themselves and their feelings, making them more self confident as they grow up.

Reading to your children is one of the best ways you can spend time and bond with them. It not only helps your relationship, but it teaches them a lifelong love of books and stories. There is a vast world of learning available on any number of subjects, and reading books is a good intro into that world. The more interest you can encourage in your children, the smarter they will be. Don’t just read the book and stop, as your child gets older, encourage her to talk about the book and what she thinks of the story. This not only will help develop her interest, it will better your relationship as well, and will open doors for conversations that may not otherwise take place or may be awkward to bring up.