Give Your Child An Advantage, Read To Them

Reading to your child can have many positive benefits down the road, from enhancing your parent-child relationship to stimulating intellectual growth. As a parent, you should be aware of the many benefits that reading provides and make a plan of action. As your child grows older, they will be busy with school, friends and other activities. Taking the time to sit down and read can help both of you catch up and get closer. Instead of seeing it as a chore, try to see reading as a bonding activity that can bring both of you together.

The principal benefit of reading to children is fostering their ability to learn and grow. A number of studies show that students whose parents took the time to read to them before preschool are likely to do well in all areas of formal education. Reading to toddlers familiarizes them with how a book works, such as that books are read from left to right, and that text is separate from pictures. It not only exposes them to books, but also makes them interested in learning in general, something essential for them to succeed in school.

Another way reading aloud can help your child is by improving speech capabilities. Simply by listening to you, your child learns important speaking and language skills. Although it sounds like cute bay babble, your toddler is reinforcing the sounds and enunciation that make up speech. As your child grows and enters pre-school, he or she will start to sound out words on his own and enhance his/her learn to speak clearly and fluent.

Reading also increases the child’s vocabulary. An studies have shown that an increased vocabulary is a predictor of academic and professional success later in life. Reading comprehension is improved by regular reading as well. The child that reads a lot early in life will be able to parse difficult text for meaning in a school or work setting with ease, which will give them a leg up over other students or professionals.
Finally, reading to your child promotes his or her ability to communicate. When you spend the time to read to children, they see the interactions between the characters in the stories, gaining critical communication skills. Therefore, they will be much more likely to express themselves and socialize with others, which helps them grow in a healthy and constructive way. This is because they learn to empathize and relate to the characters in the story. This gives them the ability to see the world from the perspective of another. This skill will make them thoughtful and understanding members of society later on.

So the benefits of reading to your child are numerous and obvious. Reading to your child builds their communication and learning skills while teaching them life lessons and also improves their chance at success in school and as a member of the workforce when the grow up.

By: Brian Burton

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"+Brian Burton is a children’s book reading professional. Having read literally thousands of children's books he has a tremendous understand of children book genres. Brian is also the full time blogger and source of excitement for www.childrensbookstore.com. You will find Brian musing both fun and informative."