There are many benefits of reading to young children every day; that’s why parents are encouraged to read to their children from infancy. You can start with bedtime stories and graduate to more complicated subjects as they grow old. 

It’s healthy to buy a different variety of books to help enhance your child’s perspective and keep them entertained and stimulated for longer.

Below are the 7 benefits of reading to young children every day: 

1. Brain Development

According to research, reading to young children helps in the development of their brains. When you read to your children regularly, you help stimulate the optimal patterns involved in brain development.

In turn, this helps build strong pathways in their brains that are in charge of semantic processing. 

2. Improves Language and Vocabulary

Speaking of brain development, another benefit of reading to young children is improving their language and vocabulary. Once the optimal patterns in the brain are stimulated, there is exposure to different.

According to research conducted on kids between the age of 6 and 54 months (4 and a half years) involving 250+ pairs, reading to kids from infancy to toddler age increased their vocabulary and literary skills.

The research focused on the quantity and quality of shared book-reading, i.e, the number of books read and at what frequency, and if parents had conversations regarding the books.

For both, the researchers noted that children were better in their literary and vocabulary skills by the age of four.   

3. To Become Knowledgeable

If you are looking to raise a child who is intelligent and well informed in most if not all aspects of life, start by reading books to them from a young age. There is a common saying that “knowledge is power.”

Reading to young children allows them to question the learning process and other subjects. It also gets them interested in various topics, which leads to a hankering desire to learn more, even as they grow. 

4. Developing Empathy

Every parent wants to have a child who understands other people’s emotions and situations.

Reading to your young kids is one of the best ways to help them develop empathy.

Once they can identify with characters and imagine themselves in their situations, they will easily understand and relates to different emotions. It will help them in the future; when they are out there in the world and meeting people from all sorts of backgrounds.

5. Enhances Concentration

Contrary to popular belief, children learn to concentrate more when you are constantly reading to them. On their own, kids may tend to flip pages and change books. However, if you can keep a consistent reading schedule, your child will learn to stick to the schedule. With time, they will learn to sit still through any reading and concentrate.  

This is important because when you finally take your child to pre-school, you will have installed the discipline of sitting still and paying attention. 

6. Develops Imagination and Creativity

Reading allows one to live different lives through different characters. It includes imagining how these characters and the locations look and any descriptions provided in the book.

When you read, you try to convert the setting of the book into reality through your imaginations. And everyone has a different imagination, leading to enhanced creativity on what the setting should look like.

This does not apply only to adults but to children, too. The benefit of your child seeing life through different lenses is that it helps develop their imagination and creativity. 

7. Spending Time Together

One of the best ways to create a lasting connection and relationship with your child is to spend time with them when young. There are many ways to do it, and reading is one of those ways. Even if you are not home when they get from school, you can spare a few minutes from a busy schedule to read them a bedtime story.  

Through this, your child can also learn to communicate with you by asking you questions regarding the stories you read. Reading to young children will also give you both an opportunity to relax and unwind after a long day. 

BIO

Mo Mulla is a work from home dad who enjoys reading and listening to music. He loves being a dad and husband to a growing family. He loves writing about his passions and hopes to change the world, 1 blog post at a time! You can find his parenting blog here: www.ParentalQuestions.com