In high school, I baby sat for neighbors on my street.
I read my social studies books to the kids of all ages.
They listened closely and asked questions.
This helped my school classes greatly.
I had to stop and explain things to the kids to answer their questions. They really liked the history of New York state, as we lived in Syracuse.
I later taught kids to swim as a Red Cross WSI instructor.
Little kids and I were all in the pool when a little girl asked the brilliant question of why we float. I fell back on telling them the story from ancient history about the philosopher Archimedes and how he found the simple answer, that the water our bodies displace holds us up. I showed the kids how to prove this by floating and then lifting their hands out of the water, to see how they would sink. The kids were laughing and testing out their new skills. The swimming class went more easily after that.
Telling kids facts using adult language helps a lot.
6
I always thought I'd be one of those parents who read a book to my child each night, but so far it's been a total strikeout. We're now at 6 months and my kid only seems interested in putting the book in his mouth, not looking at the pictures or listening to the story. I guess we'll just have to keep trying...
@anony mouse Don't get discouraged! It's worth it in the end. Check out my blog post on How to Read Aloud to Your Baby. https://afamilyofreaders.com/3-tips-for-reading-aloud-to-your-baby/
Is this even in question?
1
The greatest gift a parent or grandparent can give to a child is a love of books and reading.
"Readers are leaders" isn't a slogan. It's the truth.
8
being read to or hearing verbal stories also helps children develop "language imagination". Words and sentences have to mean something in order for a child to learn to read and to enjoy reading. If you can imagine a red bird or a green bug or a yellow banana and see it in your "mind's eye" you'll love reading.
1
My public library offers, 1000 Books Before Kindergarten, a read-aloud school readiness program. We lived overseas while our children were young. Summers in the States and wonderful Independent Bookstores kept us reading until our next visit home.
We read almost every night. People are amazed at my child's vocabulary at age 3.5 and I think most of it comes from reading. We read at other times too, when its raining, for some quiet time, etc.
4
No kidding! flash news! Have we not been reading for 45 years (when my first niece was born) that "reading aloud to young children" is good for them in many ways?
Please. Come up with something new: either "reading aloud to young children" is bad for them, or "playing dominoes with young children" is good for them or "playing scrabble with young children" is good for them.
I bet spinach is good for them, too.
2
Ha. Or: "Being quiet for once in your life is good for your kids". There is so much talking about reading books, buying books, ordering books, borrowing books, listing and logging books, I wonder if my kids will ever have a minute to think without being interrupted by the written word.
2
@Robin
It is one thing to believe that something is true, it is quite another to do an experiment and demonstrate that it is true. There are many things that people "know" that are, in fact, wrong.
Most of us commenting here about a shared love of reading with our children are preaching to the choir, but I'm so proud to be part our choir!
6
Years ago I taught a self-contained class of 13 year old adjudicated youths. After lunch, back in the classroom, I read to them for a half an hour. I started with Tom Sawyer, went on to Huck Finn, and others. I always had their rapped attention. I was amazed at the very bright and intelligent questions these boys would ask as the stories progressed. These in-trouble, underachieving kids were engaged and participating. I think it's never too late to read to a child.
15
Bless you Margo.
5
I was born in 1950, the oldest of four. Mom kept a baby book for each of us; the brand was "Our Baby's First Seven Years." In mine, on a pre-printed page rather clinically titled, "Stories and Books Read to the Child," Mom filled in all 27 spaces and in 1953 added, "NB at 2 1/2 these are not all the books Sally has read." I am pretty sure I was not actually reading them by that age, but I know I could read by the time I started kindergarten. She continued, "I read her the paper or anything I am reading. She likes my prayer book."
On a different page, "Growth of Vocabulary," she noted, "At two, will attempt to say any word if I say the syllables slowly. . . . Age 2 years & 1 mo.: can say "Little Jack Horner"; also knows most of the poems in a Little Golden Book called "Come Play House."
A few months later: "At 2 3/4: I can't remember all the nursery rhymes she knows. Also knows quite a few hymns -- sings them to herself in bed when going to sleep or waking up."
Childhood friends remember my parents' playing with their children and the neighborhood kids; one friend from that era recently recalled my mother's setting aside chores to get down on the floor to play with us, or being available to help us carry out an imaginative project.
Reading, to me, is associated with sitting on a parent's lap.
When my mother died last year, my siblings and I donated the family rocking chair to a hospital pediatrics unit, which was thrilled to have it (we checked!).
5
I didn't have many toys as a child. What I did have was a stay-at-home grandfather (a classical violinist and symphony musician) that read to me. From illustrated books with a few words; on to something more verbose. Sitting, and "reading", is one of my earliest memories. Our family moved when I was 3 1/2 so I was a beginning self-reader by age 2 1/2.
That activity was in the range of maximum impact (0-3 yrs) according to Dr. Mendelsohn. It allowed me later to skip kindergarden, and most of 1st grade.
Parents of such children should be prepared to deal with a child that can already read and write sitting through classes for things they already know, while the other children "catch up". In my case I brought my own books to school and read while class was going on. Not all teachers accepted this.
7
My two children were adopted at birth. I was a great reader, and I read to them nightly for years, into middle school, and they loved it. They loved to hear the stories. Both had ADD characteristics, one hyperactive and one distracted. Neither became great readers. Tho my daughter was extensively tested, it was never determined what was preventing her from enjoying reading. She much my preferred listening to books. My son dearly loved reading every Harry Potter, but otherwise preferred being active. Reading to kids doesn’t always turn them into great readers. It might be that by nature, children of those who love to read are more inclined to love to read themselves.
2
The study discussed in this article is about reading AND playing with children. While I’d never argue against the value of reading, (I was read to nightly growing up and read to my children daily/nightly and I love to read) I don’t understand why play was left out of the title. I find this misleads what the study explored: the value of connection with parents / social emotional development. I’d be curious with the study were every done with play alone and reading alone.
10
If your parents never read to you and if reading in school was just a never-ending collection of tests, it is not to late to teach yourself to enjoy reading--and to protect your brain at the same time.
Try my blog, The Invested Reader.
8
My parents read to me every single night, from the day they adopted me at 17 days old until well past when I was reading on my own. The importance of reading to kids, especially small children and babies, cannot be overstated. I know that my exposure to different types and tones of the English language, genres, and levels of difficulty in though process and lexicon helped me immensely in school. As a former Special Ed ELA teacher to middle schoolers I see how hard it is for children who have not had similar exposure to not only learn to read, and read fluently, but to develop a love for reading.
9
When my twins were just days old, I started reading aloud from Forbes and the New York Times to them, since that was the only way I could both keep up with the news and keep them happy! They will both finish grad school in May and have fantastic vocabularies. (Of course, we read a whole lot more than newspapers and business magazines.) But I'm saddened when I watch young parents in my neighborhood pushing strollers while carrying on phone conversations, rather than engaging with their babies about the color of the leaves, the passing dogs, the fascination of the man cleaning out the storm drain, or the smell of spring flowers.
45
Totally agree! You are after all only being a parent when engaging your child. Otherwise you are simply the motor for the stroller.
18
It’s fundamentally true, but please remember that you are not seeing the whole picture. Sometimes I grab a stroller and roll my kids around so that I can talk to someone when I’ve really hit my limits as a parent or just as a person - because parenting is intense for 24 hours a day! Sometimes parents just need a second to not be intensively parenting. Which is why pediatricians look at the whole picture - what you are doing in private and when walking in the park!
20
I occasionally read the NYTimes outloud to my babies as well. But I don' think constant talking is necessary. Peacefully observing the environment from the stroller is important too.
1
Childhood is the realm of imagination. Young children, until around age 6, learn by imitating those around them, and from the stories they hear. Those of us with young children in our lives are keenly aware we are being astutely observed! Another study validates what many of us have known, and experienced over and over again when in the company of a young child.
Now, if only the United States public school system would respond with a curriculum that reflects these ‘findings’. What would follow would be a teacher who knows how to tell captivating tales, do tasks and model behaviors that we want our children to learn, and get out of the way why the children play these things out until it’s time to go home. Our society should be so lucky and our children would be so rightly served.
12
Just this past week, my 2-year-old was feeling sick. He sat in his highchair and said to my husband and me, "I feel down in the dumps. Something is not right."
Both of these phrases are direct quotes from children's books that we have read to him. The first sentence is from Frog & Toad ("Blah! I am down in the dumps...I am thinking about tomorrow.") and the second is from Madeline ("Miss Clavel turned on the light and said 'Something is not right!'")
58
Love it!
7
I am continually amazed at the contemporary belief that one needs a study to validate the obvious.
On the other hand, as nursery schools and kindergartens have drastically reduced their free imaginative play time as well as read-aloud time from teachers and aides, I suppose these kinds of stuies are needed to push childhood back into something approaching normalcy.
Reading to our children, spending time with our children in their imaginative play (however boring it may seem to us), and being outdoors with children WITHOUT being on a cell phone or scrolling through who knows what can only benefit the emotional development of any child. There is no substitute for being fully present in the life of another human being.
48
"I am continually amazed at the contemporary belief that one needs a study to validate the obvious."
Except that many intuitively obvious things turn out not to be true when investigated; and there's no way to know, until that investigation is done, whether one's pet "obvious" fact really is a fact.
1
My grandchild has been read to since the day she came home from the hospital. Everyday she sits on an adult's lap and is read to as part of her normal routine.
Already she has an extensive library. Most of her books were gifts from relatives, friends or were thrift shop finds.
We are lucky to live in a community with a well equipped and very active public library system. Library cards are free, as are most programmes. Almost everyday of the week she and a parent or grandparent, can attend a library program somewhere in the city where they participate in songs, stories, rhymes, book reading and other activities led by trained library staff.
At age 7 months, she sits happily with a board book by herself. As much as she is able, she turns the pages, points at the pictures and vocalizes. This can go on for a long time. She demonstrates the same focussed attention when playing a variety of toys.
So yes, we as a family, have seen the end result of all the good times we have reading and playing with our sweet baby girl!
20
My father, who lived a few states away, would tape dozens of his favorite children’s books for my kids when they were young. He even had a little chime he would sound so they could follow along in the book and know when to turn the pages. Not only was it a joy for my children to hear their beloved grandfather’s voice, it has served as a precious memory for me after he died. Taping books for my children served as a bridge for staying connected despite the distance.
34
I am a speech-language pathologist and see first-hand how reading to children improves language, literacy, and social interaction. The link to improved behavior makes perfect sense to me. Some kids misbehave to get attention, so I wonder...is it the parental attention that's making the difference or is it the reading?
I would propose another study - participate in active play with your child every day and see how much their behavior improves. Or, just have a daily conversation with your child. Stay engaged. Put down the phone. I think children today are starved for attention, and that's why so many have behavior problems.
34
We read to my daughter constantly from the very beginning. It was occasionally exhausting, because she grew so attached to the interaction that she'd demand four or five books at bedtime. We also read to her at meals, and in the car. But we never denied her a story. The result? A 12 year old whose second home in the library, who's addicted to books, and rarely even thinks about her phone. And happily for us, we do still read to her occasionally.
15
"Once upon a time . . . "
Apologies for being a smarty pants, but I couldn't help but begin my comment with those famous words.
I just wanted to add my small and humble observation to the mix: there is not an adult (friend or family member) I know who was read to by his/her parents when they were little that did not turn out pretty darn wonderful and caring as well as being filled with a lot of compassion. I think it's a combination of the love and attention their parents gave in addition to those years of being read to and reading with their kids that helped create that solid foundation and sense of security. I could also be off way. What I am certain of is that no harm came of that time spent together reading and these adults I know also read to their kids.
15
When I was a child in the 1950s, my parents were blue-color workers. They prized education, but had to put their energy into making ends meet. Nevertheless, reading was one thing they truly enjoyed. After work and on weekends, they read the newspaper through and through, often reading articles aloud to each other and discussing them. I listened in. They were always on a tight budget, but they bought me Golden Books and read them to me over and over from infancy. We visited the library on a regular basis. My father wrote me a short note every morning before he walked to work, hours before I woke up. I looked forward to reading those notes. When televisions became available, I was still a child. My parents bought one, but the love of reading had already taken hold of me. Television programs could not replace it. Like others, I am concerned about the amount of time children watch television and play games on computers. Would I have attended college and grad school if my parents had raised me on television shows instead of books? Parents who enjoy reading themselves -- and who enjoy reading to their children --give their children an enriched environment, even if those parents are not themselves rich.
28
Not only are these lasting memories for you and your children but it will benefit your kids scholastically.
I read to my daughter from 6 months on. More than an hour a day. At 4, she was starting to read to me, too. She has always loved to read and read extensively from kinder to high school, also becoming an excellent writer along the way. When she took her SAT for college admissions, she scored 100% on the verbal part of the test.
Nothing replaces reading.
11
There is a program at the State prison on Concord MA for imprisoned dads to record reading books aloud and send the recordings to their kids. Both the kids and the dads seem to like it.
37
Oh that warms my heart so much.
2
This is supposed to be news? My daughters are in their 20s and the time spent reading was priceless.
4
Anyone care to bet on whether or not the current president’s parents read to him as a small child? (Sorry, I could not resist.)
12
Thank goodness. I am a bookworm and love nothing more than reading to my children. I am a flawed parent in many other ways -impatient, always too tired to play board games or to organize big b-day parties, with deep hatred of video games and similar, never able to make field trips because of work - but I guess I am getting a pass here. Our nightly reading in bed together is a great pleasure in my life and theirs. They are all bookworms too.
12
It breaks my heart that every child does not have parents who read to them and play with them
15
My husband and I read aloud to our two kids every night, at bed time. I also read to them during the day (I stayed home with them for seven years, until the younger one entered first grade). They both were placed in the gifted program. Our younger son went to the John Hopkins Center for talented youth. Our older son had sensory integration disorder (it's called something else now), and has had problems since he was three. He is now 29. Parents should know that reading to kids is super important, but doing so doesn't always make everything all right.
16
As for parents who can't afford the high prices of children's books, there is always the public library. It is a grand event to go to the library. Not only does it have a glorious pile of books anyone can read for as long as they want to, but they can miraculously take a stack of them home to read. Another way to end the day, if there are no books, is to tell stories to your children, asking them to add details like what the dog looked like, or what color shirt the protagonist was wearing, etc. This develops their imagination like no computer does.
16
Sadly, computers, tablets and smart phones have replaced meaningful time parents and other caretakers used to spend with their children. As a reading teacher I see the consequences - children unable to sit still and interact with other people: children with weaker language skills and poorer social skills. Parents arrive to pick up their children after a day at school and with barely a "hello" they continue their conversations on their phones. Children who, when asked, "What did you do over vacation?" respond by telling me all the games they played on their tablets, many violent. Once in school, young children are then bombarded with worksheets and skill work. Little time is made for joyful reading or play. Our culture is setting many of them up for failure or, at the very least, the need for constant behavioral and academic interventions.
40
I teach kindergarten; your observations are 1,000% correct.
16
And, I wonder whether or not we are selling our future short. My own observation is that scientific and engineering problem solving requires a childlike sense of playfulness and imagination. Just imagine what would be possible if that could be nurtured.
4
Of course. Of course. Of course. We started reading to our children before they could sit up by themselves. And many times, every day. And yes, we--or I--had the luxury to do that. But at bedtime. Instead of the phone or the laptop or the t.v. Books on tape, which our children could put themselves, at a very early age, into a little tape player, are much better than the screen. And keep your children AWAY from screens until they can read, at least. (We did not have any screen time in our house at all, except for homework). It really does make a huge difference in how they think and the kind of people they become. And have them see YOU reading. I understand that some of these options are not available to everyone, but a lot of them are, and most of them are to many New York Times readers. Books, and no screen time, or very little. Puppet shows. Plays. It's possible.
19
I remember my fifth grade teacher reading to our class every day and we all benefitted from it on reading tests at the end of the year. My scores were so good that I was promoted to the advanced reading class the following term. I am a college graduate, with two adanced degrees, and recently retired from teaching. I read to my middle school students every day for at least fifteen minutes. My students always scored higher on year end exams than other classes and I attribute it to my fifth grade teacher, Miss Roe, who knew that reading to her students was a valuable tool in the learning process!
24
My fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Wilbur, read to us once a week, on Friday afternoons. I remember receiving a postcard from a classmate, Debbie, whose family had had to be out of town, at the end of the school year, for the final thrilling installment of the story Mrs. Wilbur had been reading to us: "The Inca Emerald." I remember that this classmate wrote, "What happened in Inca E.?"
This same teacher had each of her classes adapt a book into a play. The following year's class would produce and perform that dramatic adaptation. The play we put on was "Heidi," adapted by the previous year's group. Debbie, the little girl who sent me the postcard with the rather desperate question about "The Inca Emerald," had played Heidi earlier in the semester.
Before we dismiss e-reading, though, I want to point out that it was decades before I was able to find this 1922 adventure story again, and I did so by being able to enter an online search for it. It is in the public domain and available at https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Inca_Emerald
2
All of my elementary school teachers read to us, through the fifth grade. I loved it so much. Great books: Caddie Woodlawn, A Wrinkle in Time, Blueberries for Sal, Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, all age appropriate, all so engaging. We hated with the time came for the book to be put away.
When I student-taught 4th grade, I read to the students the same books I had read to me. No change in response: rapt attention. So lovely.
2
This is a wonderful article on the benefits and joys of reading to our children. But, I can’t help but think of the families in poverty or near poverty that I volunteer with - they work two or sometimes even three jobs, with perpetual exhaustion being a component of daily life. If we had a decent living wage and other societal benefits other advanced countries take for granted, perhaps more of America’s parents would have the energy to read and better engage with their children.
33
There is a reading program called ROAR started in 1989 by a group of pediatricians in Boston. It provides doctors with free books to give to their well children younger than 5 years old.You may be able to this program in your area. There are so many millions of books available for free-in libraries, schools, thrift shops,. Accessing them is probably easier than you think. You might also write to the Scholastic company and ask for a donation to poor families in your area.No child should go one day without a few books on a shelf nearby for them to choose from. Good luck.
9
Yes access to books may be an issue for the poor but truly it's about the time for parents who may work multiple jobs or work odd hours/shifts, and generally be to stressed to be concerned about reading, when they don't know if they can feed, house, and provide for their values.
This being said, the Dolly Parton Imagination lmagination library makes books available for free to children 0-5 years old. The child receives on book/month. It's great. Here's a link to see if it's available in your community.
https://imaginationlibrary.com/check-availability/
4
Don't recall my parents reading to me but books were always available (remember the $1 encyclopedias from the supermarket?). I have always been a reader. Read to my son religiously and he never seemed to have a problem with school work.
3
Let's not forget the Grandparents. My mother would watch-babysit my
son on many weekends when he was young. A part of the time they were together was spent reading. Not only did he benefit from that time, be we learned a bit about what interested him. Time well spent.
21
I suppose we don't really need scientific confirmation to know how precious reading is for the reader and the listener, but in our solipsistic prove-it-to-me age, despite the evidence of my senses and my life, I suppose it is pleasant to have scientific reassurance.
6
Generously giving one's attention and time to another is also an expression of love.
17
The Teaching Of Values Through The Use Of Indian Epics. In India, children are exposed to values and ethics through the oral tradition of storytelling.
Instead of telling a child, “You must obey your elders!”, adults in the family use examples of characters in epics and tales to teach the same.
The epics, Ramayana and the Mahabharata are examples of stories most commonly used to teach the ideals of ethical living to children at a very early age.
The same oral tradition can be modified in the classroom to demonstrate the use of Indian epics and tales to teach values and the ideals of Indian tradition.
5
A tried and true classic resource for parents and teachers is Jim Trelease's, "Read Aloud Handbook ". There have been many editions over the last thirty-plus years to keep up with new recommendations, but lists of titles for every age child. Great place to start for newly-minted read alouders!
11
Trelease is retired, I think, from actively writing and touring. The most recent edition is 2013 so there are some newer books not listed, but it is still an excellent, excellent resource, as is Anita Silvey's "100 best books for children".
3
Glad to see that this wonderful resource is still in print!
2
Both my parents and my grandmother read to us regularly starting at an early age. I can’t remember ever learning to read, although I must have. By kindergarten I could read to some extent and I remember that I could not wait to move on to first grade and read more. By second grade, my brother and I were both reading way beyond our grade level. We were also fortunate to have not had a TV until I was about 9. By then, reading for pleasure was a firmly entrenched habit. These days, being read to and reading may not to be enough to adequately develop a child’s attention span, given the ubiquity of gaming, and media catering to minimal attention spans.
5
One irony I can think of is that the readers of this article/nytimes are more likely to read to their kids and express their thoughts to this column, but alas, this needs to reach to those who don't read this. Every little bit helps being a role model than saying "Please read to...". I appreciate your efforts with Reach out and Read.
Your previous article on this topic - "Literacy Builds Life Skills as Well as Language Skills" provided more concrete examples.
17
We read aloud to each of our kids every single night from when they could first lap-sit well into high school. Our younger daughter has a genetic disorder that usually leads to mental retardation, but this reading provided social knowledge and knowledge of the world that she continues to draw on as she nears a very capable age 40.
Both girls remain fervent readers--the elder and her husband read aloud to each other and to their own kids.
Well worth the effort--and so much job was involved, too. My husband and I still quote kids' books to each other, from memory, in our 70s!
14
Parents and caregivers should always read and play with their children. It allows you to connect to two children at once; the child in front of you and that buried and often overlooked child inside the adult. Bring the two of them together and let them play.
As an adult you may be amazed at the pleasure you will find being engulfed in a world of laughter that comes from the experience, one that is central to the universe of the child. And most certainly both children will love you forever for doing it. So yes, parents and caregivers, always read and play with your children.
John~
American Net'Zen
13
This essay focuses on benefits to the child. I will testify from my personal experience that there are many benefits to the parent as well: feelings of calmness, of connection, of delight.
I have led (and continue to lead) a blessed life: loving families, hard work, discovery (I'm a scientist), travel, hiking, running, wonderful teachers, wonderful students. But one of my fondest memories is of my son falling asleep on my lap as I read to him.
38
Usually, as a working parent reading to my son at the end of another exhausting day, I was the one who was falling asleep! My voice would trail off and my still avid and alert audience of one would have to poke me to continue. Most important audience I ever had notwithstanding a long professional career.
5
Not only do children benefit from listening to stories but they also gain developmentally by
simply being physically close to a parent or grandparent. As a former preK teacher, I was very aware of
differences in behaviors and attributed some of the less desirable ones simply to a lack of routine and predictability at home. Children who are consistently read to each day as part of a bedtime ritual benefit in more ways than just literacy. Kudos to parents who use books as learning tools but also model the sheer joy of reading. I belong to a read-aloud book club that has been in existence since the late 1800s and we all love spending an hour and a half listening to our reader!
11
I am sure one of the reasons I am a reader today is because of the love of reading I developed when my mother read to me each evening while tucking me into bed. This was a ritual that was performed nightly for years. The love I felt for my mother undoubtedly influenced my love of reading. This is a priceless gift that she passed onto me. It is a gift that I now pass onto my own children.
6
Thank for this lovely articIe. It brought back so many nice memories.
I also read stories to my children and it indeed paid off, as they have all become readers and also read to their. I discovered that my daughter, in addition to hearing stories also loved doing puzzles with me. So we started out on the floor with small ones and slowly graduated to very large ones - always talking and laughing while playing. Cell phones hadn't been invented yet so my attention was indeed undivided.
5
We are a neighborhood of suburban McMansions pressed right up against each other with no yards. My neighbor says we modeled nightly reading, because they could see into our nursery which was on their side of the house! And so they read to their babies too. All four children from both the families are doing beautifully.
15
Love this! McMansions or not, we are role models for each other! When we interact with our young children in healthy, positive ways such as reading, imaginative play, intelligent conversations, others around us can take inspiration and validation.
4
My kids were both born readers. I taught K-3, in each case right up to my due date, and they heard me read to the kids daily in utero.
This study hit on a way to encourage what is the single most stimulating thing that can be done with infants, toddlers, and preschoolers (and older children as well), and that is to talk to and with your kids. Reading (and discussing) books is one way, playing with them is another. But in fact you don't need the books or the toys, just the kids and an ability to talk.
I think I knew this as the oldest of five kids, and also because I'd been teaching young children for years before mine were born. I don't know how many times people in the grocery thought I was speaking to them during my "conversations" with my baby or toddler, or both. I guess they were surprised that I narrated our trips around the store to my children.
13
My mom laughs now about how she was so dedicated to reading to us that she would literally crawl on the floor after us as toddlers, picture book in hand, not just reading aloud, but pointing out the text and repeating the words so we associated letter combinations with sounds. It worked. My sister and I shocked our kindergarten teacher by reading several books to her the first week of school and we were tracked into accelerated classes from thenceforth. We never looked back.
16
“We try to highlight the positive things in that interaction — maybe they feel a little silly, and then we show them on the tape how much their kid loves it when they do these things, how fun it is — it can be very motivating.”
We need a Video Interaction Project focused on parent-teenager interactions...ideally before my child becomes a teen!
10
Reading to our babies, toddlers, and pre-reading-age kids was one thing we got right, thank God. Hours in the glider every day while we nursed, and later, after school, we read everything to them--from Suess to Hank the Cowdog to Harry Potter; learning to sit still and listen to a story was one of their first pleasures.
22
Absolutely true. I started reading to my two boys the very night that we brought them home from the hospital. They were each less than a day old. As humans, we cannot underestimate the importance of hearing language and the rhythms and cadence of voice and poetry. (As soon as their eyes are able to focus on the pictures and words, those associations begin, and reading is learned, unconsciously.) There was no question of when reading books would take place -- reading happened every day, at many times -- and always in the evening, often for more than an hour before falling asleep. This continued, as others have recalled, until middle school.
A few vignettes that come to mind -- calming my infant son on a train when he was crying by whispering the lines of a well-read book into his ear -- he was only 2 or 3 months old, but knew these words well already, as we read them every day. He immediately stopped crying and settled into my shoulder to hear the rest of the poem. (I had them all memorized because I read them much.)
Trying to read to other children who were not used to this daily reading, and realizing that they could not sit still and concentrate on a book because they had not practiced this focused discipline of stillness made me very sad.
This time with the kids must be spent unselfishly - of course they want to read the same books over and over! The repetition is pedagogic for the young brain. The classics: Lobel, Marshall, Joyce, Wiesner, Hoban, McCloskey.
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Plus: Cynthia Rylant, Kathy Appelt, Margaret Wise Brown, Virginia Lee Burton, Bob Graham, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Richard Scarry, Jerry Pinckney, William Steig, James Stevenson, Patricia Polacco.
The librarian in the Youth Department at your local library can help you find books that support your child's particular interests, too! Keep reading!
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Seems we should extrapolate the importance of reading fiction to people of all ages in helping them build empathy and compassion. It's a low rent way to be exposed to lives that are very different than yours and perspectives that aren't easy to intuit.
The humanities is important, as evidenced by Scientific American's continuing endorsement of the humanities as a moderating factor in our technological development (yes we could, but should we?) and ethical behavior in quantitative fields like banking and finance.
It's also just a really nice way to wind down the day and bond with your family.
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Very goood article. I can agree wholly with it, because I did this with my daughter Mariana since she was in the womb. Now 10 and 1/3 way through 6th grade, she continues as a straight A student, is an avid reader, domains a vocabulary well abive her age level, expresses her feelings well, has a high self-esteem and I´d just add that technological gadgets should also be totally avoided or given with plenty of measure. These (gadgets) fry kid´s brains. And as a teacher I have discovered that children lack today many motor skills and physical activity that helps to develop their brain and helps their blood flow stream throughly. Another tip:Parents have to read too. You have to preach and do accordingly.Otherwise you are wasting your time and money.
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I see the same benefits even as I read to my tweens. I would urge parents to read to your children for as long as they keep asking.
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@Faraway Joe Tokyo:
I love that line, ". . . for as long as they keep asking". It makes me smile at the same time a tear is in my eye. Nicely stated.
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Many of us recall with pleasure being read to in elementary school. One hopes the many time-consuming, testing-is-all burdens put upon teachers these days do not mean the loss of read-aloud time, especially when the teacher is a good interpreter of writing. Many years ago as a college undergraduate, a mentor teacher friend (and later a teaching colleague) was author Walter Van Tilburg Clark (see "The Ox-Bow Incident"). He read aloud to classes from Conrad, Thomas Mann and others. As a teacher with acting/directing ability, I read to my high school students, and this summer I will read aloud to children and adults in an enrichment project I'm developing in my small Montana home town. A boon for students and others who may have reading difficulties: audio books. We are overwhelmed with visually-charged entertainment. The importance of LISTENING deserves increased attention in an age addicted to visual stimulation. Listening to old radio programs is also beneficial. We have ears made for hearing as readers bring writing alive, no matter the age of the listeners.
Doug Giebel, Big Sandy, Montana
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I read to my fourth grade students every day. It is key to read books that speak to the children. I find Roald Dahl works really well with this age group. It is also very important to read with expression, adopting different voice characterizations, and so on. Some educational research I have read suggests that reading aloud expressively to children is the number one motivating factor that gets kids into reading.
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My wife and I probably get more pure joy from reading aloud to our grandchildren the they do!
Someone should measure those effects on our stress reduction, longevity and quality of life.
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I can still feel the out of body experience that came from my 3rd grade teacher reading “The Lion,the Witch and the Wardrobe every afternoon post-prandial, and the shock of coming back to “slow time” when that day's two chapters were complete.
I can almost replicate this feeling of existing within a story when I listen to a book on tape/MP3/disc as read by an exceptional voice. Most recently it was when listening, again, to Patrick O'Brien's “HMS Surprise”, Chapters 5 and 6.
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It always surprised me a bit when the elementary-level kids I was teaching loved for me to read to them. Never mind TV or the web, they loved story time. And so did I. I hope that's still true some 15 years later.
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There's a bit of a chicken-or-egg issue here. For me, at least. I have three daughters. I enjoy reading. I want them to read, and I was told that I should read to them from birth -- in the womb even! The oldest enjoyed my reading. As soon as she could tell me to keep reading, she would. Her favorite activity as a young toddler was looking at books. She's an advanced reader now. She has no attention issues. My youngest child is similar, though she's only 3 now. My middle daughter is a different story. As soon as my middle daughter could walk, she would not sit still to be read to. She was not interested. That continues today, and she's distractible. Her reading is on grade level, but she's had struggles and would never read for pleasure until second grade. So, my question, is it the being-read-to that makes the attention span and the love for reading or the attention span that makes the love for reading?
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I had a similar dilemma but the middle child eventually came around with nudging and more variety in material. He had no interest in anything that could be considered 'literature', generally disliked fairy tales/fantasy, but loved bad humor (i.e. captain underpants). We had no screen time before bed - if he wanted to stay up for a half hour -the only allowed activity was reading. I also would make them do the summer reading program at the public library -you enter raffles for prizes if you read a book- I'd negotiate 1 comic for every regular book. -he still will not admit to loving reading like his older sibling - but now that he's a pretty strong reader - if something really grabs him - he can read for hours/days for pleasure. (now a teenager, hated reading in elementary school).
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While I've been reading Fielding's Joseph Andrews every page makes me think how good it would be read aloud to children, something that it was not written as but today the saucy and wildly ridiculous wouldn't be perfect as well as the olde English.
Well yes, duh, of course. Reading and creative play are essential for child development and are also one of the great joys of parenting and grandparentimg. But we all know that. I can’t imagine a pediatrician or other health care or professional who works with children and families who doesn’t. I’d prefer to see scarce resource dollars (governmental and private) be used to support research on less obvious child development questions and on service delivery.
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I think the research is about whether a fairly minimal family intervention could encourage parents to actually do it, not about whether reading is good.
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"A new study provides evidence of just how sustained an impact reading and playing with young children can have, shaping their social and emotional development in ways that go far beyond helping them learn language and early literacy skills."
And here I thought my reading to and with the grandkids on a regular basis was simply a means to introducing them to the world of reading and books filled with imagination, suspense and wonderment. I never realized that there were other added benefits such as potentially curbing "problem behaviors like aggression, hyperactivity and difficulty with attention."
Thank you for this interesting and thought provoking article Dr. Klass.
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My husband started reading to our son at night when he was 2 weeks old. He rotated reading Harold and the Purple Crayon, Runaway Bunny, Good Night Moon, and Where the Wild Things are until he was about 3 and then branched out from there. Our son is nearly 12, they are currently reading Oliver Twist. Over the years, they’ve read hundreds of books at bedtime and will continue to do so until our son heads to college if my husband has anything to say about it. It is such a special time for them. We give every new parents a copy of those first four books.
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Every night until middle school, we read out loud. As a family: cat curled up on the bed, dog on the floor next to the bed, both parents taking turns reading. Our son loved the time together. When friends would visit they would do the reading.
We moved from "Goodnight Moon" to "The Lord of the Rings" by the end.
There is nothing more important for you child, whether a single parent household or a two parent household, then eating the evening meal together when possible and reading out loud.
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We read to our kids every night.
It was an important time to reflect and discuss our day, our fears, our excitement but most of all explore the exciting world of bedtime stories and the characters adventures. Through these characters we explored important moral and ethical questions.
For parents who are concerned about our current environmental crisis and the lack of educational opportunities available to parents and teachers to instill in our children the need to care for our natural environment please read a beautiful new book just out about this very topic.
Beasts at Bedtime:Revealing the Environmental Wisdom in Children’s Literature
The author Liam Heneghan gives us new insights into classic children’s literature’s profound messages about our environment. The wisdom is already there in the stories, we just need to look carefully. Bedtime is a good time to explore those themes with kids. A timely book.
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I read to my children at bedtime throughout their childhood--a quietly joyful interlude of sharing and closeness--the best way to wind down at the end of the day for both kids and parents. As a substitute teacher in elementary schools, when a class would come back from lunch and recess all wired up, I would have them sit at their desks with their heads down, turn out the lights and read to them for 15 minutes. A precious amount of time in a school day, but well spent as once the lights were back on, the children would be relaxed and refreshed as a result and ready to work through the rest of the afternoon.
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We read to our kids every night and during the day... even while in the womb.
Reading can also be an important way to pass down important moral and ethical values.
Bedtime stories can be a time for questions and answers that require contemplation and exploration.
For parents who are environmentally conscious, check out a beautiful new book specifically dealing with this topic:
Beasts at Bedtime: Revealing the Environmental Wisdom in Children’s Literature, by Liam Heneghan.
https://www.amazon.com/Beasts-Bedtime-Revealing-Environmental-Literature...
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My husband read to our older daughter until she was a JR in HS! We would joke about who would read to her when she went to college. Now the little one is 10 and loves to spend the night with friends-the only complaint is no one reads to her before she goes to bed.
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My wife has led the charge on reading to our son at night, but I make it a point to sit with them as she reads. I'd say the reading mix is 70% her, 30% me. I believe that when children feel safe, they feel loved. Sitting with our child and reading to him cultivates an environment of love, if you will. It's 20 minutes or so a night (our son is 5) where everyone gets to just relax and enjoy the power of story. It's different than video (obviously) in that more meaningful conversations take place and it provides our son the opportunity to ask questions and perhaps even relates the story (or his questions) to his day. For example, we read "The Invisible Boy" by Trudy Ludwig to our son last night and, in doing so, we were able to gather insights around his and/or his friends experiencing the feeling of being "invisible" at school. The latter is around eating alone at lunch, not being picked for a game, etc. Reading, in my humble opinion builds confidence, enhances ones imagination and self-worth.
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Hahaha when I would read out loud or sing to my infant son, my daughter who was in the womb, would kick excitedly in the womb. It was almost as though she could not wait to join her brother in the awesome joy of being read to. We had a healthy library at home, but we would also visit the free public library for story time sessions, in pajamas. We got books home twice every week and read them over and over again. Nothing but pure simple joy.
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It can be difficult, with very young children, to know when is a good time to read to them. When will they be still long enough to get more than a few words into a book? I found that reading to my son when he is eating is the solution. As soon as he started eating (as opposed to subsisting on mother's milk alone, which was at 10 months old for us), I started reading to him while I was feeding him. Now he is about to turn 2 and we read at every meal time. He now has book preferences and asks for specific stories (Little Blue Truck, Whistle for Willie). This works so well because he is already seated and cannot get up and run away, as he is wont to do. The library is one of our favorite places. You don't have to be rich or privileged to give your kid this leg up.
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I started reading to my children at the breast--nursing in the glider.
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Put down your I-phone and interact with your children. Facebook does not love you, but your children do.
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Every night just before bed was a special time as I read to my three children. Reading also helps with memory, too. "Dad, I found 'Mildred the Cat' in a bookstore here in L. A. I'm going to read it to my class.." She had moved to California after graduating from college so she could find a teaching job. It still amazes me that she remembered that book, a cute mystery story about how children wondered how the door to their clubhouse was open and found Mildred with her litter of kittens there, almost twenty years later. Dr. Seuss and P. D. Eastman books were among their favorites.
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My mother read to us every night. No matter how tired she was, or how we squabbled, she read to us. Every. Night. It was an oasis in a chaotic world, it showed us pretty colors and hapy words, and best for Mom it got us ready for bed. If you have no other reason to read to your children, a night's sleep is surely a persuasive argument.
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Some of my favorite memories of my childrens' early years are of those times we spent reading together.
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It’s a tradition in my middle school art classroom to read a novel to my students while they make art.
It started out as a sneaky way to keep them quiet but it’s turned into part of my curriculum. Students literally plead with me to read to them...and I love it just as much because I get to work on my voices:).
In my opinion, children no matter the age, enjoy and benefit from being read to.
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Brilliant-- reading to Middle School students while they do art! MS can be the most difficult time to reach kids who are trying to act "tough" in the face of shifting social norms, yet they are still youngsters inside and need to hear high quality literature. Not always possible in English class where the curriculum and time on task doesn't allow.
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That is clever and amazing!
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I started reading to my daughter every night when she was three or four months old. I didn't stop until she was in her second year of middle school. I cannot overstate the positive impact this has had on my daughter. She was an early reader with an advanced vocabulary and a fluid writing style. Beyond that, we talked every night about many things. I recommend this habit to every young parent. I know it's hard to find the time and energy, especially when the mother or father is working long hours. But it's worth the investment and far more valuable, in my opinion, than hiring tutors or buying workbooks.
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The other thing that I found really helped my kids learn to read was to have comic books available. Reading Baby Blues or Calvin helped them with context while also being something they could relate to.
I do wonder though, how many kids learn to be fluent readers because of having parents pass down genes for loving to read? People who read will automatically read to their kids, because they enjoy it too.
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I did the same with my three children, with the same results. Their grade school teachers were amazed at their reading level, vocabulary and writing ability, and also noted how they "got" complex humor faster than the rest of the class.
It was funny and lovely to see the older ones listen when I would read an old favorite to the youngest.
Our official last read-aloud book -- age 12 for each child -- was Watership Down. What a saga! Yes, the teenagers listened in.
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It's really so easy to read to a baby. Even a newborn under 3 months. I find that babies sleep better if they get a story book before bed. With two little ones it's hard to make the time for a book routine with #2 but it's not difficult to see that reading aloud makes children more calm and happy.
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sorry if i missed it in the article, but is there a recommendation for how much time to play with/read to your child everyday?
Any amount of time is good! You might begin with the amount of time it takes to read one picture book and adapt as time allows for more. Read just one book a day to your child, and they will have been read 1825 books by their 5th birthday.
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Such important work. Note it is Dr. Adriana Weisleder!
You can immediately distinguish a parent from a non-parent, because when a parent reads a story to a child, he or she uses different voices for the characters and with suitable facial expressions and body movements to bring it to life. More than just words on the page.
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There are wonderful childrens’ programs at public libraries, with enthusiastic readings by dedicated staff. My observations as a library volunteer suggest that kids of all ages benefit from listening to engaged and lively readers, even if they are not their parents. Support your local library!
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Great way to do it but is being a parent really a prerequisite? What about actors with no children?
Another thing I used to do was to make up the ends of occasional sentences in silly, impossible ways. My kids loved that. It showed whether they were paying attention!
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I’m sorry but you are all wet. This is not necessary or a hallmark of parent. My husband is an excellent reader but doesn’t resort to such antics. Don’t sell children short by suggesting they need such gimmicks to enjoy reading. As I have posted, he started reading to our son at two weeks old and plans to continue to do so until our son goes off to college. Our son is soon to be 12.
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While I support parents reading with their children, I would note that the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) summary on Shared Book Reading states that there was no evidence that the intervention had an effect on alphabetic or reading achievement outcomes. The outcomes for reading comprehension and language development were mixed.
The WWC states that Dialogic Reading was found to have positive effects on oral language, which is important, and no discernible effects on phonological processing which is equally important.
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You may be missing the point of the article, which focuses on emotional development, not the impact of reading aloud on children's standardized test performance.
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Well Scott, it depends on variables reading aloud—as one of the first scientists to study the micro events in reading to young children using an Esterline Event Pen Recorder, one-way mirrors, counter-balanced design, and 2-second inter-observer reliability calculations. For example, using the child's name as the main character had a huge effect on reducing movement-by-moment ADHD like behavior and had a large effect retention over time. Embedding predictive question at the bottom of each page had a large impact on behavior and long-term comprehension and retention. Even type face makes a difference, which sadly most publishers use the wrong type faces for young children (sans serif) versus serif typefaces like Times Roman. Can you imagine reading the entire NYT in sans serif like Helvetica? And a very interesting issue is what we also studied: what children imitated as a consequence of the construction of paired storybook reading. That led to my work with Sesame Street. The nature of how storybooks are constructed can have very large effects on children's behavior a year later.
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I'll review your WWC source, but on its surface its claims seem spurious. How could hearing as well as seeing the written word not have an effect (and affect) on phonological development. There's is only one source for knowing what words sound like and subsequently how they are pronounced and that is hearing how others say them. How else could we know? As for the WWC's assessments, it could be just another example how a test doesn't measure accurately a desired phenomenon.
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