Benefits of Reading to Your Child

Benefits of reading to your child can be endless. When you sit down with a book together you get the opportunity to bond and encourage a long-lasting love of reading. You'll raise your child's vocabulary beyond average levels through the reading experience. A child who loves to read will also crave new knowledge, which will help him or her throughout his or her academic career.

Spending time with your child is important to develop a close relationship. The younger they are when you start to focus on a closeness the better. Instead of doing it through television, pick up a book. Kids of all ages including 6 months will enjoy snuggling up for a good read. Show your child the many different worlds created from imagination out there with colorful and playful books.

Choose one day out of the week to be your library day. Kids love going to the library and picking out books on their own. Many libraries offer story time for different age groups. If there is one for your child's age group, schedule your library day for then. Show up early so you have time to return books you've already read and to pick out some new ones.

Participating in story time at the library will allow your child to bond with other children who also enjoy a good book. Story time encourages kids to discuss what has been read as well as their likes and dislikes of the book. In full participation, the kids get to help read the story or guess what's going to happen next. Doing this gets their brains working on valuable comprehension skills that are necessary all through life for success.

Children who get regular reading time get a jump start in school. Learning new words everyday will expand their knowledge of communication. When reading to your child follow the words that you are reading with your finger. If you come across a word that you think they don't know, look it up with them. Taking an active role in researching with your child will show them the tools they can use to figure it on their own.

The dictionary is a great resource for kids. You can even find dictionaries in print that are made with kids in mind. Instead of using other words not in your child's vocabulary to explain a confusing word, they use vocabulary appropriate for the child's age. This will help your child fully grasp the new word and remember it.

Jump start a conversation with your child about a story you have read together. You could even come up with projects to do based on the story. Draw pictures of your favorite parts of the book and discuss why you liked that part. Not only will you be reinforcing what you have read, but it gets the creativity flowing.

Give your child a jump start of opportunity. Providing your child the benefit of early reading and communication skills is worth scheduling 30 minutes out of your day. Developing a strong relationship through reading will do more for them than anything money can buy.