Permission received from photographer Dads, there is an activity that can make up for all the times you may have to work or travel for business. This activity certainly applies to busy and working mothers also. It combines caring, connection, attention, education, and entertainment all in one. What is this magical activity?
Reading to your young children!
If you don’t read to your children now, start today! If you do read to your children, read more. It can never be overdone, and you can never start too early. Educationally, reading aloud to kids allows them to relate words to scenes, creates wonder and imagination, and a strong desire to learn to read independently. Study after study finds much greater brain activation in those children whose parents read aloud to them. Early reading to your young children also helps them learn to speak, interact, and bond with you.
Liza Baker, the executive editorial director at Scholastic, says:
“It’s so important to start reading from Day One,” she says. “The sound of your voice, the lyrical quality of the younger [books] are poetic … It’s magical, even at 8 weeks old they focus momentarily, they’re closer to your heart.” As they begin to grow, families should make sure books are available everywhere in the home, like it’s your “daily bread.” (Amen.) But it shouldn’t end when kids begin to read on their own. “As they become independent readers, we tend to let them go, but even kids in older demographics love nothing more than that time with their parents,” Baker says. “We’re blown away that kids time and again said the most special time they recall spending with a parent is reading together.”
Choose books that will keep their attention and maybe make them laugh. Let them choose their books when they can. There are tons of books for kids at the library. My daughters came home with cloth bags full of books to read to their babies, then toddlers. The result is four kids who LOVE to read! Two of my grandchildren are three grades or more above their level in reading comprehension. I expect similar results for the other two.
Due to unfortunate circumstances, I wasn’t read to as a child, nor did I read a complete book on my own until I read “Johnny Tremain” in seventh grade. While that book opened my eyes to the education and entertainment of reading, I remained a very infrequent reader because the habit had not been ingrained in me. I recall being very bored as a child with a thimble full of curiosity, compared to my voracious curiosity today, and not reading impacted my confidence level. I was catching up with classmates for the first four years in school. It wasn’t until high school that I began to excel. Not being read to did not ruin my life, but I would have been more sure of myself and possibly more successful having had that opportunity.
There is no doubt that everyone benefits from reading to your children! You become a better parent with closer connections to your enlightened child. Studies have shown that some children have heard millions of more words than others by the time they start reading. I would want my child to have the advantage of hearing more stories earlier, more often, with more time with their loving parents. What a great way to prepare your kids for life!
Reading to your young children!
If you don’t read to your children now, start today! If you do read to your children, read more. It can never be overdone, and you can never start too early. Educationally, reading aloud to kids allows them to relate words to scenes, creates wonder and imagination, and a strong desire to learn to read independently. Study after study finds much greater brain activation in those children whose parents read aloud to them. Early reading to your young children also helps them learn to speak, interact, and bond with you.
Liza Baker, the executive editorial director at Scholastic, says:
“It’s so important to start reading from Day One,” she says. “The sound of your voice, the lyrical quality of the younger [books] are poetic … It’s magical, even at 8 weeks old they focus momentarily, they’re closer to your heart.” As they begin to grow, families should make sure books are available everywhere in the home, like it’s your “daily bread.” (Amen.) But it shouldn’t end when kids begin to read on their own. “As they become independent readers, we tend to let them go, but even kids in older demographics love nothing more than that time with their parents,” Baker says. “We’re blown away that kids time and again said the most special time they recall spending with a parent is reading together.”
Choose books that will keep their attention and maybe make them laugh. Let them choose their books when they can. There are tons of books for kids at the library. My daughters came home with cloth bags full of books to read to their babies, then toddlers. The result is four kids who LOVE to read! Two of my grandchildren are three grades or more above their level in reading comprehension. I expect similar results for the other two.
Due to unfortunate circumstances, I wasn’t read to as a child, nor did I read a complete book on my own until I read “Johnny Tremain” in seventh grade. While that book opened my eyes to the education and entertainment of reading, I remained a very infrequent reader because the habit had not been ingrained in me. I recall being very bored as a child with a thimble full of curiosity, compared to my voracious curiosity today, and not reading impacted my confidence level. I was catching up with classmates for the first four years in school. It wasn’t until high school that I began to excel. Not being read to did not ruin my life, but I would have been more sure of myself and possibly more successful having had that opportunity.
There is no doubt that everyone benefits from reading to your children! You become a better parent with closer connections to your enlightened child. Studies have shown that some children have heard millions of more words than others by the time they start reading. I would want my child to have the advantage of hearing more stories earlier, more often, with more time with their loving parents. What a great way to prepare your kids for life!
