The Benefits of Family Reading Time
What better way to bond and connect with your child than by curling up together with their favourite book and making story time the best time of the day or night! Surround your child with reading and books and you will find that the benefits are more than worth the effort.
The benefits of family reading time are extensive and well researched. Many studies haven shown that early reading helps to build a stronger connection with your child. Not only that but it also helps them to speak, interact and understand the world around them. Below, I've listed just a few of the benefits that can be achieved by reading together as a family in your home.
1. Reading develops literacy, a good vocabulary and a great imagination
2. Kids learn better when an adult is involved.
3. Reading stories together promotes bonding and helps you to build a good relationship with your child.
4. When you read with a child you teach them how to hold the book, scan from left to right, turn the pages and explore the book.
5. By reading with your child you are role modelling positive behaviours and promoting positive messages about reading.
6. It encourages your child to learn through playful reading.
7. Stories help you to discuss and share ideas with your child and helps your child to understand the world around them.
8. Reading helps children to become familiar with words, sounds and rhymes.
9. Stories can help children to understand their feelings and emotions and learn empathy, compassion, respect and understanding.
10. Following your finger across the page will help your child to learn new words.
11. Pictures can help children to discuss new ideas and spark their imagination.
12. By listening to you read you are teaching your child how to express themselves in words.
13. You are teaching your children words by hearing and seeing them.
14. Reading together promotes learning and makes memories that last a lifetime.
15, By repeatedly exposing a child to a variety of words in a variety of contexts you are building and strengthening their vocabulary.
16. Reading can help to shape the social, cognitive and emotional development of your child.
17. Reading to children can help them to think about and manage different situations they may encounter in life.
18. Reading with a child can help them to control their behaviour and increase their attention span.
19. The sound of your voice and the reading of rhyming stories can help a child to focus and feel comfort with you.
20. Having fun and being playful with a story helps your child to engage.
So these are just 20 of the benefits of family reading time. I'm sure there are many, many more!
Read daily and your child will love you for it! And if you would like to read more of my writing, check out my newest book There's Bug Guts on my Shoe!
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