“ Why You Should Read To Your Child”
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As a parent you have many important priorities when it comes to your child. You need to keep your child safe, healthy, and loved. In today's hectic world, we often spend so much time engaged on those priorities we forget another important area -- mental stimulation. As parents we need to engage our children's minds as well as their bodies in order for them to grow and learn. One of the best ways to achieve this goal is through reading.

There are a number of reasons why you should read to your child. If you are already reading to your child on a daily basis then these reasons should strengthen your resolve and if you are regularly reading to your child they should challenge you to do so:

1. A carefully selected story challenges and engages your child's mind. Through books your child can not only re-live experiences in their own life but also learn and experience cultures and events far removed from their current scope.

2. Reading out loud demonstrates what good reading sounds like and provides a goal for the child's literacy efforts. As your child learns to read, he or she will need role models to follow. Shouldn't you be one of them?

3. Sharing a variety of books improves your child's knowledge of language including vocabulary, sentence structure, and pronunciation. The more your child knows about words and language then the more knowledge and experience she will have to draw upon while learning to read and the easier it will be for her to learn.

4. Reading with your child helps the child connect print words and meaning. Children learn to read many words simply through repeated exposure. It is not enough to simply provide words and instead the words must also be placed in context.

5. Reading demonstrates how a book works, such as that we read a book from front cover to back cover and a page from top to bottom, and a line from left to right. Those of us with long experience with books take this knowledge for granted but young children need to learn these simple rules.

6. A well-written story stimulates your child's imagination and creativity which can foster their own creative efforts and play.

7. Reading a variety of stories helps children learn how story structure and narrative works which will help in literacy as well as social interaction. Human beings use story telling and narrative in our professional and personal interactions and the people who have the best grasp of narrative technique are often the most successful in these areas. Give your child an edge.

8. Making literacy a priority in your life will demonstrate its importance to your child so they will make it a priority in theirs. If your child never sees you read then why would they think it is important?

9. Reading to a child also promotes physical contact as your child sits on your lap or cuddles beside you. It provides another opportunity to strengthen your bond with your child.

10. Listening to the human voice can be very soothing and especially when it is the voice of a loved one. It can help lower stress levels and bring comfort. Children face many stresses during the day just as do adults. You might find taking the time to read to your child not only reduces their stress level but yours as well.

You should make reading to your child a part of your regular daily routine but also include spontaneous opportunities as well. Not only will these moments draw you closer to your child and provide lasting memories but you are also giving your child benefits that will impact their entire life.

About The Author: Writer, educator and mother Deanna Mascle shares more articles and resources at http://YouCanTeachYourChildToRead.com

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Why Reading Aloud To Your Child Is Important

Okay, so your child loves to watch television, play video games, surf on the Internet, and listen to music. And there's nothing wrong with those activities, as long as they're used in moderation. Most parents would also love to see their kids participate in more constructive activities -- like reading children's books -- but the trick is to get your little ones to actually sit down and crack open a book a few times per week.

One way to start is by sitting down and reading aloud to your children. By reading aloud to your kids, you're showing them how to enjoy children's books, the English language, the wonders of a good story, and hopefully, you're instilling a love of reading and learning. Many kids associate books with the drudgeries of school and homework, but you want to show them how a well written children's book can be an exciting adventure, a real pleasure, as their imagination takes them to places they've never been to visit with people and characters they've never met.

According to a recent US government study, there's a direct relationship with reading aloud to your children and childhood literacy rates. Reading children's books and other materials to your children is not only a great educational head start for pre-school, but also a wonderful social activity, and a chance to spend quallity time with your kids.

Reading to children is shown to have a positive effect on children's literacy outcomes, the government report concludes. Through experience with books, children gain important exposure to written language. They begin making connections between the spoken word and the printed word. Policymakers contend that it is important to read to your child.

Regrettably, few children today seem to read for pleasure. In one study, only 7 out of 10 9-year-olds said that they enjoy reading as a pastime, compared with 78% five years ago, while for 11-year-olds, the proportion has declined from 77% to 65%. Children said they preferred watching television to going to the library or reading. But the biggest changes in attitudes were among boys. In Year 6, only 55% of boys said they enjoyed stories compared with 70% in 1998.

So getting your children -- especially males -- to read, and enjoy reading, is a real challenge these days. And again, one way to tackle that challenge is to read to your children aloud. One technique is to make reading a children's book a game, an interactive adventure that you can both enjoy. After all, this is another way to spend some quality time with your kids, which is what they want anyway.

Another way to use children's books and literature to teach is through the so-called "Charlotte Mason" method. In this method of teaching, the child "tells back," in his or her own words, a short book or poem, or a chapter of a longer book. The child is forced to focus on the story, and understand its meaning. This type of verbal narration is especially effective in younger children who may not have the writing skills necessary to put their thoughts down on paper.

The goal is to get your child to open a book for fun, on their own, without prodding from you or their teachers in school. I can remember my own excitement and fascination when I discovered the Lord Of The Rings trilogy as young teenager, and how many hours of entertainment and enjoyment I culled from the pages of that classic fantasy series.

About The Author: Kent Johnson - Reading Expert and Career Coach Visit http://www.books-to-order.com Your source for personalized children's books that make reading fun

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