I was asked in the comments section if it is important to read stories to children. The answer to that question is so broad that trying to tackle it in one shot is impossible, so I would like to approach the subject in a general way for now and otherwise make “The Importance of Reading” a category of posts.
In general, I believe that reading to, and later reading with children is the most important thing a parent can do to increase a child’s abilities regarding language, imagination, attention, critical thinking, memory, speech, vocabulary, writing, patience, history, religion, science, and even math– I’m sure I’ve left some out. In fact, I would venture to state that any parent who does not read to their toddler and later who does not sit and listen to their child read is neglecting the kids’ intellectual development just as surely as not feeding a child would be neglecting his/her physical development, and as such should be considered to be a crime.
Above all of that though, reading time with the kids is the one sure moment during a day when parents and children can sit calmly together, quietly, sharing something that they can both enjoy. There is a reason that for millennia people have told stories—they are part of the social fabric that holds us together, whether we are creating them for each other, recounting them as best we remember them, or reading them from a book. Stories bind us together , bring us closer, help us understand one another and give us a common experience that we can remember, can refer to in discussion, can relive, and can look forward to experiencing again. Anyone who reads to their children knows that kids will almost never forget story time, regardless of when it is during the day—not because the stories are so engaging, especially compared to the television or the computer—but because for 15 minutes, the kids get to hear Mom or Dad’s voice (other than the constant nagging we generally subject them to), and get to rest an arm on the warm body of one of their parents, and get to share something that they can later say “Hey, remember when….” about.
It’s one of the things that I think we usually don’t understand. How many times have you remarked or heard people remark that a child only wants to hear one story, over and over again. It’s not the story that they’re trying to relive, it’s the experience of hearing an adult read it to them. Something magical, for them, happened one time when that story was read, and they want it to happen again. They do it with lots of things—for my daughter, it’s playing “Patty Cake” when she gets her diaper changed, and for my son, it’s sharing a bottle of water when we go to the grocery store together. They use those things, as they use story time, as affirmations that they are loved and that everything is good in the world.
In and of themselves, stories and the reading of them to children are important. If you’re not already doing it, start reading to the kids today. Not only will you begin to strengthen their intellectual abilities, you’ll share the time with them that they need to feel connected to you, and you’ll build a stronger connection with them yourself.
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I have always known that story telling of some kind and/ or reading is important to a child. However, I’m having trouble reading to my toddler (he’s 18.5 months) and have been trying to no avail for months. First, his attention span is super short. Then, all he wants to do is flip the pages, flip the entire book, snatch it out of my hands and throw it around. We never get past page 1. Do you have any ideas on how I can work around this? Flash cards? No book, just talk? Let him play with one book while reading from another?
With both of our kids, what we started with were picture books of animals and of babies–even really young kids can usually imitate animal sounds, and they seem to be intrigued by babies and what they’re doing. So, we would let them turn the pages and etc., but instead of showing, we asked–for example, we would point to a picture of a dog and ask “What does the doggy sound like?,” or ask “Can you touch (and later point to) the picture of the baby who is sleeping?” It teaches them the rhythm of reading a book and that they need to pay attention when books are around, but allows them to be a little more active. It also focuses their attention on the pictures, which will be all they care about until they’re late 3 years/early 4 years old. Each session doesn’t last long with the young ones like yours–maybe 3-10 minutes–but they get longer pretty quickly until soon your can actually start to read very simple books.
We also always ask them to put the book away when we are done–it involves them more in the process, and soon, you’ll notice that your son will be bringing books to you because he gets that this is a thing that he has some control over.
Keep at it–I think you should feel like it’s been a victory if he will interact with the book even once at first, and then you can build from there.
I’ve read (and still do, just not with the frequency I once did) to my kids from the beginning. Even before they could crawl, walk or talk. My 16 year old used to love Dr. Suess’s ABCs. He could recite the letters of the alphabet at 18 months, not the song, but the letters on the pages.
He does love to read, but now it seems reading interferes with his game time. I started reading the Harry Potter series to him before he could read well enough. We got to the middle of the 4th book before he was ready to take them on himself. I used to read him, my niece & my nephew stories from Stephen King’s Skeleton Crew when they were pre-teens. They LOVED that! Maybe not the reading material for every kid, but my family & I are horror buffs, except for my 2 youngest.
My 10 year old does NOT like to read. At all. He does love for me to read to him, still. & my daughter is a lover of books!
I think reading to your children is an essential part of parenting. I loved that I could easily give them that. They are better for it.
You reminded me of something–when I was a teen, Sunday mornings were spent around the pool having a bit of breakfast and reading the Sunday paper. One of my favorite parts of that little ritual was when Dad’s interest in an article would be peaked enough that he would say “Huh, listen to this,” and would then read aloud to the family. I’ll bet that continued even when I was home from college, into my 20′s. Reading to each other isn’t limited to reading to little kids–teens enjoy it, and even adults–how many of you have waited in line to hear a reading by an author?
I do believe that reading to kids is soooo important. I have read to my oldest since she was a baby and now she is 7 and is an excellent reader. It’s harder with my second because she isn’t in to books as much but we still try.
As a former teacher and currently a homeschooling mom, I strongly advocate parents reading with their children every day – no matter how young. The point, in the beginning stages, is to instill a love for learning and reading. After a while, they will be the ones who will initiate reading time.
I taught 2nd and 3rd grade last year and I read to my students everyday. Some picture books, some short stories, maybe a poem, always something for discussion or pertinent to our area of study. The students always wanted more group reading time and discussion about what we read. Over time, it became apparent which students were also reading with their parents or siblings because they became so much more fluent and comfortable, easily finding engaging topics to talk about from the text.
I had an attic full of books ready for my daughter before she was even 3 years old, and we read with our now 5 year old everyday as well. My husband has a routine with her that involves one picture book or poem before bed every night. She absolutely loves it and calls it her “special time with daddy.” I look forward to the day (soon!) when she will be able to read back to us. Creating a love for books and reading at a young age is such a helpful and wonderful trait for children to take and carry on.
My almost-seven year old can read to himself now, but we still have nightly story time: now we read chapter books together instead of picture books. When he was younger, though, he loved the books about “not a stick” and “not a box,” which were about the power of imagination, and also the books about a kid and his blankie and the other about his pacifier. For impatient little kids, those books might be a real hit – very few words, GREAT pictures.
Now, though, we’re shifting gears: both my kids were recently given kindles (not by us) and my older son, in particular, who loves to read, now has his head bent to (yet another) screen. He’s reading…but there’s something so much less intimate about the process, when there is tech involved.
I tell my kids that once they’ve learned to read, they need never be bored and never be lonely. They don’t quite understand what I mean, but they will…
I also believe reading is very important. I’ve been reading to my daughter since she was born and now loves books! Even though she is only 4years old, she already enjoys to seat down to “read” by herself!
One of my most vivid and cherished memories of childhood are waking up on weekend mornings, crawling into bed with my dad and reading out loud. I remember reading Charlotte’s Web, in particular. It meant so much to me that my dad wanted to hear me reading, even though sometimes I did hear him snoring! My dad instilled a love of books and reading in me, and I am passing that on to my kids. Reading to my kids since birth has been the best investment in their education so far. Now my oldest (7 yrs.) is reading to his younger siblings and they are catching on that reading is an important family ritual. Your message is awesome!
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