The Importance Of Reading To Your Child
In honor of Read Across America last week I wanted to talk about the benefits of reading to your child(ren) daily! We all know reading to your child increases their vocabulary, helps to improve comprehension and to develop better listening skills as well as increase their language development. We often forget in our hectic daily life to connect creatively with our child(ren). Reading aloud to your child opens the door to conversation! Learning about how their day went or discussing something that happened in the book you just read together allows your child to express themselves. Listening to their imaginations soar as they try to come up with a different ending or explain why a character behaved the way they did helps the parent, grandparent, relative and TEACHER understand the child more. As adults, our days are busy juggling work, family and crazy sport or activity schedules. Taking the time each night to read a story to your child is important academically as well as socially and emotionally. It is a grounding activity that provides quality time!
Last week we held our annual book fair and story hour. Teachers read their favorite stories to the children as they enjoyed pizza in their PJs. Parents perused the book fair and purchased books for their family as well as for their child’s classroom. It is always fun to see what the “popular” book will be at the event. This year the Mercy Watson series flew off the table. The Pre-K students have been reading the Mercy Watson series in their afternoon Pre-K time. They clearly loved listening to the books at school because they all wanted to take one of them home. The excitement on their faces as they told their parents why they wanted to read a Mercy Watson book at home was fun to watch. This is just another reminder why reading with your child is important and helps develop that connection between parent and child. My advice to you is take the time to read to your child and develop great skills while enjoying the process!
