I still read to my 13-year-old daughter at bedtime most nights we are home and neither of us has an outside activity.
The bedtime story ritual continues to be important to both of us. I started reading bedtime stories to my children when my oldest, who is now 31, was six months old, so I've been doing this for a long time.
Here are the top 10 reasons I think reading children's books aloud to a child, especially at bedtime, is an important, even necessary, activity.
10. It is a chance to connect at the end of the day, and sit close together, even with a child who doesn't always like to be touched or cuddled.
9. This is a wonderful no-pressure opportunity to talk about life's little, and big, issues as story characters run into challenges and solve them successfully, or not.
8. You have a chance to share some of your own experiences and wisdom effortlessly and without preaching when they relate to that night's bedtime story.
7. You have the opportunity to help your child build his or her vocabulary. Encourage him or her to ask if there's a word they don't understand, and keep a dictionary handy to look up words together if you have trouble explaining the meaning. (Or if you don't know what something means either. One night, my daughter and I had to look up the word "auk.")
6. Reading stories without pictures stimulates imagination as there are no visuals; the picture has to be formed in your head from the words you hear.
5. Reading picture books, on the other hand, is a great opportunity to compare various artistic styles and media for the visual child.
4. Reading a chapter book over a number of nights teaches delayed gratification - sometimes we have to wait for what comes next.
3. The prevailing consensus today is that, for better sleep, kids (and adults too for that matter) should have at least a half-hour of no screen time (no TV, no computers, no video games) before bed. Reading to them fills the gap for some kids who no longer know how to entertain themselves; it can also get them hooked on books and one day they will happily read to themselves before bed if you are busy and the TV has been turned off.
2. "Leaders are readers" and developing the reading habit begins at home - you are giving your child a great advantage for life's later years.
1. And finally, and sometimes I think, despite all the evidence that reading is essential to success in the adult world, this is the most important reason of all: for that half hour you are all your child's, a chance for him or her to feel they are indeed loved, cherished and a priority in your life - an important feeling for them to have in the midst of our busy multi-tasking lives
Helena Long is the author of the children's book, The Underwater Mystery and creator of the www.best-loved-kids-books.com website, where you can download the free report, 11 Tips to Make Reading Aloud More Fun.
9. This is a wonderful no-pressure opportunity to talk about life's little, and big, issues as story characters run into challenges and solve them successfully, or not.
