Why You Should Continue to Read to your Kids
While my children were young, I knew the importance of continuing to read to them in order to create in them a love for reading. And because I loved to read and loved to cuddle, daily reading time was easy to do.
However, now that my kids are older and able to read on their own, it becomes easier to just forget the need to continue to read to them. They can do it on their own, and we are so busy that it’s hard to fit it in.
But I have discovered that, for us, it still is very important that we fit in that time as much as we can each day. These are the reasons that I need to continue to read to my children.
Quality family time
With all of the activities that my children participate in, it is so easy to get lost. We travel from here to there constantly, and one or the other of my children has to be at some sort of practice every single night. We consider ourselves lucky if we actually get to enjoy a supper together. So to make this time a priority is important for us so that we can have that quality family time. It forces us to sit together and listen to and talk to each other. It’s also a time that we use to slow down and just enjoy each other’s company. I have grown very jealous of this time, and fight for it hard.
They experience good quality literature beyond their reading level.
We enjoy so many classic stories together as we read. To continue to read to my children allows them to enjoy these wonderful stories without worrying about reading it themselves. It opens up books to them that at this moment are beyond their own capability of reading. Why should they miss out on wonderful stories simply because they don’t have the ability to read them yet? We spend time discussing the stories themselves, discovering what we like and don’t like about these stories, and figuring out what makes a good book. All of these “extras” would be more difficult without the daily reading aloud.
Free entertainment
Is there anything better than free? In our society the opportunities abound for different avenues of entertainment. However, I continue to read to them because it provides many hours of free entertainment. We can involve ourselves in someone else’s story for free. No money needed. We can travel and lose ourselves in a good book without burning a hole in our pocket. Yeah!
So many days we read together and the kids love the buildup to the climax. If it is a story that I have never personally read before, my children will try their hardest to keep me from reading ahead by myself. They want all of us to enjoy the story together. And I have to agree. When I do read ahead, I miss out on the anticipation that my children feel. That anticipation is half of the fun.
Creates good memories
I continue to read to my children because emotional and heart connections can be made while I am reading to my children. We can all relax and enjoy the story. There are no pressures to get the right answer, no hurry to get to the next activity. And while we don’t cuddle together much, we do laugh a lot. Those good, strong emotions are what my children will remember, even if they don’t remember the details of each particular story. They will remember the good time that we had together, and when they are older, these memories they will cherish.
Increases reading comprehension and vocabulary
A good majority of the vocabulary that Super Stuffy and Bear Bear have learned came from book that we read together. Bear Bear, especially, will stop the reading to ask what a particular word means. I remember some vocabulary words that I learned during my school career, but most words I learned from my own reading. My reading aloud to my children allows them to hear the correct pronunciation of each word, learn how to use context to figure out an unknown word, and ask what a word means. Also, in enjoying the story together, we discuss the elements of a good story and we can compare stories to other stories that we have read previously.
Good books teach life lessons
In our reading and discussions, we touch on all different subjects. We give our opinions on the actions and attitudes of the characters. We talk about the right and wrong decisions made and the consequences of the choices that each character makes. My kids can see how their choices affect their circumstances and the circumstances of those people around them. And, in the best books, each child can identify with one or more characters. When you can identify with a character in a story, it is so much easier to see the story through that character’s eyes. In that way, my children can learn from the good and bad choices that the characters make. Then hopefully they will not have to make the same mistakes in order to learn the lesson.
It gives a good opportunity to slow down and enjoy time together
I have mentioned this benefit already, but in the hustle of our day to day activities, it is so easy to get lost. Everyone needs quiet time to relax, rejuvenate, and just think. We are constantly bombarded with noise and media. While this does have its place, too much of it breaks down the relationships between family members. When each of us are involved in our own thing, we don’t take the time to communicate with each other. Reading together facilitates that family bonding that is so important for our relationships. It gives us an opportunity to breathe, to discover what it in our own minds, and to use our imaginations. For me, reading to my children is truly a relaxing time.
Fosters a love of stories and reading
I am sure that almost every person has one or two favorite books that have impacted their lives. Some of my favorite books I discovered because my fifth grade teacher read them to my class after lunch every day. I found other good books on my own. I will always remember the titles of those books and the feelings that they created within me. Because these books have had such an influence on my life, I am excited to find more books that create that excitement within me. I also want to share those books with my children. I desire them to experience the same feelings that I had while I was growing up.
My wish is that the good times of closeness with each other and discovering good stories will encourage my children to find good stories on their own and a desire to read them. I am already seeing that with Bear Bear. She has found a series of books that she likes and spends a good deal of her free time reading them. She also shares with me what’s going on in her books. Because of that, I know that she understands what she is reading and enjoying it.
Super Stuffy, also, has expressed an enjoyment in reading, although he is not as apt to read during his free time. He does not choose to read voluntarily, but he has thanked me for forcing him to read. So even though he thinks I am a little weird for bringing a book wherever we go, he does see and understand the value of reading. As much as I wish he would enjoy reading as much as I do, I am learning to accept where he is.
Reading to your kids has many wonderful benefits
No matter the age of your children, to continue to read aloud to them benefits all of you. The quality time that you spend together, the love of reading it engenders, and the learning that all of you do while you read is so worth it. Even if your children are older and can read for themselves, the benefits of reading aloud are too great to ignore. As parents, we have a limited time during which we have the most impact on our children. The time that we take to read to them can be part of that time. If you don’t already read to your children, maybe now is a good time to start. If you do, keep going for as long as possible. I know that I cherish the time that I spend reading to my children, and I believe that you will too.
