Estimated reading time: 4 mins
Babies and young children are sponges that soak up everything around them. So naturally when books are read to them, they take in all the language and words they hear. Reading to children boosts their brain development in a big way, but not only that it acts as bonding time for you and your child. Therefore we recommend some story time EVERY day.
So what are the benefits of reading to your child?
Brain and language development
Even the youngest children benefit from hearing their parents read to them. Studies have shown that babies who are regularly read to, get higher scores in language skills, promotes higher IQs and improves brain development, such as problem-solving skills.
Provides bonding time
Reading provides a great opportunity for you to bond with your child. It also acts as a little wind down time during a busy and hectic day.
Improves your child’s listening skills
listening is a skill children MUST gain before they can read themselves. So naturally hearing a story read out loud to them involves them having to comprehend and listen.
Helps your child have a larger vocabulary
Experts say reading books to children helps expand the number and variety of words they use. If you think about it, books you read often have words you may not otherwise use in your everyday speech. While reading you may not realise but you will often use more specific names for things such as animals and places etc as well as use more adjectives (descriptive words).
Improved attention span
Reading to children helps them develop key concentration skills as they have to sit still and listen in order to comprehend what is being read to them. This will also help improve their attention span.
Helps them learn life lessons
Books help to provide an opportunity to talk about real-life situations in an age-appropriate way. They can also reflect what happens in real-world situations, reading books on specific subjects may help children deal with something new that may feel scary, such as Coronavirus, racism, moving home and going to the Doctors etc
Sparks creativity in your child
Children have vivid imagination, so books help to feed their creativity by opening up a new and often magical world to them. Creativity is important for developing your child’s interests, ideas, as well as helping with their emotional health.
It’s beneficial to read to your child from birth. Talk to your baby as you look at the picture books you’re reading, describing what you can see. For example, point to a picture and ask “What’s this?” or declare “That’s a Monkey!” to get your child engaging with the book. Keep repeating what you can see, as repetition helps things and words to stick in your child’s mind. We have two books suitable for children, shop books here (or click on the image below).
Starting regular reading from birth will help your child become the little scholar they can be, happy reading!
Natalie
Little Scholars Playground
info@littlescholarsplayground.com
About the author
Natalie is the co-founder and illustrator at Little Scholars Playground. She is passionate about literacy, learning, illustrating, black women in STEM and Montessori.