Parents hear it all the time: it’s important to read to your kids. But why exactly is that? And does it matter how — or when, or what — you read to them?
It makes sense that being read to would help kids learn to read themselves, and it’s true that being read to supports that crucial learning process. But the benefits of reading together — for kids and for parents — go far beyond literacy.
From birth, babies are hardwired to develop language skills, and consistent exposure to a wide variety of language patterns is what helps them do exactly that. “Just exposure to words is the single most important thing that you can do to help build the language pathways in your child’s brain,” says Laura Phillips, PsyD, the senior director of the Learning and Development Center at the Child Mind Institute. “Reading and exposure to words helps kids maximize their language and cognitive capacity.” Even the tactile experience of holding or touching a book supports babies’ cognitive development.
By reading to your child starting at a young age, even before they’re able to communicate verbally, you help lay the neurological groundwork for effective language use and literacy. That’s partly because books expose children to vocabulary and grammar that they wouldn’t normally hear. “When kids are with caregivers or parents, they’re exposed to the same language, the same vocabulary words, the same patterns of speaking, which is wonderful,” says Dr. Phillips. “But books allow them to hear new vocabulary and new ways of putting words together, which expands their ability to make sense of and use language.”
Research has found that young children whose parents read to them daily have been exposed to at least 290,000 more words by the time they enter kindergarten than kids who aren’t read to regularly. And depending on how much daily reading time kids get, that number can go up to over a million words. All that exposure likely makes it easier for kids to expand their vocabularies and understand the variety of texts they’ll need to read as they get older, both inside school and out.
Dr. Phillips notes that reading also helps kids build a wide base of background knowledge, which is especially helpful once they start school. Kids learn some of this from the books themselves, and some from talking with their caregivers during reading time (“We saw some of these animals at the zoo, remember?”). With more general knowledge — whether it’s about geography, transportation, nature, or countless other topics — kids have more context for the information they encounter at school and an easier time learning about new topics.
Aside from language and literacy, reading is also an important tool for helping children develop empathy. As kids read books about people whose lives are different from their own (and especially stories told from the perspectives of those people), they gain an appreciation for other people’s feelings, as well as other cultures, lifestyles, and perspectives.
Books can also help kids learn how to handle their own feelings in healthy ways. Seeing characters in books experience big emotions like anger or sadness lets kids know that these feelings are normal — and gives them a chance to talk about their own difficult feelings, too.
Parents can use reading time as an opportunity to foster kids’ emotional awareness and build their toolkits for handling feelings: “Have you ever felt as angry as the girl in this book? What would you do if you did?”
Having time to read with a parent or caregiver isn’t just about the activity of reading. It’s about having consistent, focused time together, without other distractions or demands. Even a few minutes of reading together gives both you and your child a chance to slow down, connect with each other, and share an enjoyable activity.
What’s more, that cozy time together has benefits for kids’ cognitive development, especially when they’re younger. The sensory experiences of sitting with a caregiver, hearing that familiar voice, and feeling a book in their hands are all important for kids’ brain development. “Hearing a book read over Alexa just isn’t going to give kids the same holistic benefit,” says Dr. Phillips.
When young children’s language capacities are developing, being exposed to words and language at the same time as those meaningful sensory experiences makes that exposure even more valuable. “The physical contact that you get from being held by your parent while you’re reading actually helps to engage neurons in the brain, which make kids more receptive to the language and the cognitive stimulation that they’re getting from that experience,” Dr. Phillips says.
Dr. Phillips notes that while being read to is beneficial for kids of all ages, the benefits are somewhat different depending on the child’s developmental stage.
“When you have a newborn, read whatever it is that you want to read, even if that’s the New York Times,” she says. “It’s just about having them hear words and sentences and language.”
As kids get older, content starts to matter more. “Reading books with relatable themes can lead to meaningful conversations about what’s happening in their lives,” Dr. Phillips notes. “The book can be a bridge to discussing something that a child might be experiencing themselves, and give you a way to broach a topic without saying, for example, ‘Are you being bullied at school?’”
Of course, reading whatever your child enjoys is just about always a good idea. When kids get the chance to follow their own interests, they internalize that reading is fun and rewarding, and they’re more likely to pursue reading on their own.
This applies even for young kids who want to read the same book on repeat. “It’s very common for toddlers and preschoolers to want to read the same book over and over again,” Dr. Phillips notes. “And that repetition is actually part of how they master language.”
And there’s no reason to stop reading to kids once they’re able to read themselves. Kids often enjoy hearing books a bit above their ability level, for example hearing chapter books when they’re still reading picture books on their own. Reading together through elementary school supports their developing literacy and gives you both a chance to stay connected as they grow more independent.
Dr. Phillips emphasizes that all of these same benefits apply no matter what language (or languages) you’re reading to your child in. “Sometimes families who speak other languages at home are concerned their child won’t become proficient in English if they read to them in another language,” she says, “but I encourage parents to read to kids in whatever language they feel most comfortable reading in.”
While the vocabulary and background knowledge they learn might vary, any cognitive benefits the child gains in one language will apply to any other languages they speak or read as well.
Lots of kids’ books are available as e-books, but it’s not clear whether reading together with an e-book has all the same benefits as a physical print book. Some research indicates that parents and kids may interact more meaningfully when reading print books compared to e-books. And some experts contend that it’s harder for kids to slow down and read attentively on a screen, since they (and their parents!) are used to scrolling through digital material quickly.
That said, there’s no reason to swear off e-books entirely, especially if they make it possible for your family to read together when you wouldn’t otherwise manage it. For example, if you’re traveling or otherwise have trouble accessing a variety of print books, e-books can make it much easier to find engaging new material to read together.
The important part is making reading time meaningful, no matter the medium. Taking your time, sitting together, and talking with your child about the book can help them (and you) get a lot of the same benefits that you would from reading a print book together.
As important as reading together is, it doesn’t have to be a picture-perfect routine. Reading at the same time every day — as part of a bedtime routine, for example — can be comforting and make it easier to build the habit of reading, but anytime your child is hearing language and connecting with you makes a difference.
Dr. Phillips notes that kids’ development happens in fits and starts, so kids who are gaining a lot of motor skills quickly might not be excited to sit in your lap and read. When that’s the case, it’s more helpful to meet kids where they are rather than trying to enforce rules that could make reading a less positive experience.
“I have a nine-month-old now and she has zero interest in sitting still in my lap while I’m reading a book,” says Dr. Phillips. “But I’ll sit and look at a book myself and then she’ll come over and look with me. I can point to some words, say some words, maybe she’ll take the book from me or maybe she’ll wander away and I’ll keep reading while she’s playing in the same room. Whatever you can do is great.”
The benefits of reading to children include helping them build language skills, learn about the world, and develop empathy and emotional awareness. Reading together also provides an opportunity for parents and children to connect.
What are the effects of reading on child development?The effects of reading on child development include cognitive and emotional benefits, such as helping children develop language skills and literacy, build empathy, and learn how to handle challenging feelings.
Why should parents make it a habit to read to babies and young children?Parents should make it a habit to read to babies and young children because it helps lay the neurological groundwork for effective language use and literacy. The sensory experience of being read to is also important for brain development. Reading to children is beneficial even before they’re able to communicate verbally.
Katie Moench is a librarian, runner, and lover of baked goods. A school librarian in the Upper Midwest, Katie lives with her husband and dog and spends her free time drinking coffee, trying new recipes, and adding to her TBR.
While many readers recognize the perks of independent reading, parents, and caregivers are also tasked with helping young readers learn to access those benefits for themselves.
If you’re here, chances are you know there are benefits of reading to children that go far beyond just the enjoyment of diving into a good book. In addition to relaxation, reading can provide cognitive and emotional benefits for readers of all ages. Regular reading can also help support attention spans, vocabulary growth, and the development of social-emotional skills.
According to research done on children’s literacy by the University of Michigan, the benefits of reading to children translate into five essential skills:
1. Phonemic awareness — the ability to hear, identify, and play with individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words
2. Phonics — the ability to connect the letters of written language with the sounds of spoken language
3. Vocabulary — words kids need to know to communicate effectively
4. Reading comprehension — the ability to understand and get meaning from what has been read
5. Fluency (oral reading) — ability to read text accurately and quickly
Reading and literacy in children. Reading and Literacy in Children | CS Mott Children’s Hospital | Michigan Medicine. (n.d.). Retrieved September 16, 2022, from https://www.mottchildren.org/posts/your-child/reading-and-literacy-children
These skills are vital in allowing a child to become a confident, independent reader. Parents and caregivers can help lay the foundation for success in these areas by reading aloud to children.
Reading to children has many benefits, starting from the newborn stage up to adolescence. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, even before infants can talk, they can benefit from being read to daily. By introducing their babies early on to high-contrast picture books or stories with rhyming text, parents can help build knowledge of language patterns and introduce even very young children to the concept of a book as an object with a specific use. By learning to associate reading with enjoyment (even if that might involve chewing on, throwing, or otherwise playing with a book) in the early stages of development, children will develop a concept of reading as something humans do for enjoyment and to experience new things. This will help build a desire to listen to stories and, eventually, to read independently.
As children move toward the preschool years, the benefits of reading to them continue. Reading supports cognitive development, helps children to see problem-solving in action, and can promote parent-child bonding. Additionally, regular reading sessions allow children to be introduced to the language of books, and the written word, which often differs from what they hear in everyday conversations. This gives children the opportunity to build their vocabularies as well as begin to understand concepts of text structure and sequence, two important academic concepts for strengthening reading comprehension. Children who are regularly read to will have access to a wider variety of language as well as greater phonic awareness, two concepts that are foundationally important to learning to read on their own.
During a student’s school years, there are numerous benefits to continuing to read to a child, even as they progress toward independent reading. Not only does reading have the ability to reduce stress, but reading aloud also allows children to hear words and concepts that may be out of reach for them individually, but can be learned about with an adult. Children also benefit from dialogic reading, in which the adult reading asks questions to open up a conversation about the text, invites the child to read along with them, and/or uses reading as a way to investigate a new subject. These behaviors help model textual interaction for young readers, as well as give the opportunity for parents and children to discuss what they read together.
Even adolescents can benefit from family reading time, whether that takes place via read-aloud, audiobook, or dialogic reading and discussion of the different books being read. By modeling not only reading to children but also reading around children, parents can communicate that recreational reading is a tool for both relaxation and learning. Parents who might not consider themselves frequent readers can help support family literacy by listening to audiobooks on car rides or organizing trips to the public library. Reading also helps build a sense of empathy and allows young people who may be facing new or scary situations to find examples of how others have handled similar struggles in their lives. Particularly for teens, reading can provide a sense of consistency that helps them cope with the challenges of a new stage of life.
The wide variety of the benefits of reading to children shows why it is important for parents and caregivers to read to children and the necessity of making support for families a priority when it comes to literacy. Initiatives like better and more flexible access to public and school libraries, literacy information nights at schools, and distribution of free books from community reading programs can help ensure that a wider variety of children can access the benefits of reading and being read to across the lifespan.
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