Free shipping, Cataloging, and Processing Every Day!*

Why Read to a Child

01/04/2023

If you read only one book a day to a child from birth, by their fifth birthday, they will have been read 1825 books. But those books are more than numbers; that’s nearly two thousand different stories, concepts, and even worlds they have visited in their short life. Imagine if that same child visited that many different cities in that time span—what a global citizen they would be!

Reading to a child gives them so many benefits. According to a study by Ohio State University, reading just one book per day exposes the child to 300,000 new and complex words by age 5.  Reading five books a day exposes them to a million unique words they would not have learned otherwise. (Grabmeier, 2019)

There are more benefits than just additional vocabulary. The shared time with a child, the physical time together, builds confidence and the relationship between the child and the reader. As the child gets older, the “extra-textual” time benefits both the reader and the child by providing question and answer time, building closeness, and developing critical thinking skills, as the child applies what they learned from the book read to the world around them. (Grabmeier, 2019)

Books also encourage a child’s imagination and creativity. As a child hears a story about talking elephants or a fairy school, they are imagining a world in which such things exist. Developing creativity and encouraging creative thought and play is crucial in childhood. The experts at PBS have this to say: “The ability to be creative, to create something from personal feelings and experiences, can reflect and nurture children's emotional health.” (PBS, n.d.) Children often use ideas from books as fodder for creative play, which is a great way to expand and explore their world in new and imaginative ways.

Academically, children who have been read to daily enter kindergarten already used to the concept of print on paper and accustomed to being read to, which puts them in a good position as they learn to read on their own. They also develop a longer attention span as they are used to the ritual of being read to and understand the concept of sitting still and listening to the story. (Marcin, 2020)

The reasons to read to a child are nearly endless. In addition to all these scientific reasons, it’s just plain fun. So grab a book, sit down with your child, and read, read, read.

Happy New Year from The Penworthy Bear!

References

Grabmeier, J. (2019, April 4). A “million word gap” for children who aren’t read to at home. Retrieved from news.osu.edu: https://news.osu.edu/a-million-word-gap-for-children-who-arent-read-to-at-home/

Marcin, A. (2020, October 14). Reading to Children: Why It’s So Important and How to Start. Retrieved from Healthline: https://www.healthline.com/health/childrens-health/reading-to-children

PBS. (n.d.). Creativity and Play: Fostering Creativity. Retrieved from PBS.org: Whole Child: https://www.pbs.org/wholechild/providers/play.html

 

 

Add Comment:      (* mandatory fields)
Comments: