Reading to your children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years creates a wonderful intervention in their brain development and can help your child be 6 months developmentally more advanced than children who are not read to every day.
Dr. Cynthia Roque, Pediatric Associates of Connecticut.
Reading …
Please note this list is not all inclusive.
- * Increases Vocabulary
- – New words are learned as children read. Kids who are read to know more words by the time they are 2 years old than those who aren’t read to.
- * Increases Language Skills
- – Information from reading is absorbed subconsciously helping children learn how sentences are constructed and how language affects their writing and speaking.
- * Results in Greater Comprehension
- – A reader learns ability to process text, understand its meaning and integrate that with what the reader already knows.
- * Teaches Empathy
- – Encourages understanding of how characters feel in different situations.
- * Improves Concentration, Sharpens Focus,
- – Children have to sit still and quietly so that they can focus on the story when they are reading.
- * Gives an Opportunity to Play – Use Imagination
- – Using descriptions of people, places and things allows children to use this knowledge in their everyday play.
- * Teaches about World Around Us
- – Through reading a variety of books we learn about people, places, and events outside of our own experience.
- * Exercises our Brain
- – Reading is a complex task which strengthens brains connections and builds NEW connections.
- * Challenges our Use of Intonation
- – Intonation helps us understand expressions and thoughts that go with words. Using different voices for different characters helps create expression.
- * Improves Listening
- – Interesting stories and articles create an opportunity to listen and try to understand what is being read.
- * Improves Reading
- – Practice makes better!
- * Great Way to Spend Time Together
- – Bedtime stories, reading on the couch, reading outside, at the library – do it together.
