One Fish, Two Fish : Family Reading Time

I don't know a single parent who wants their child to be illiterate.

We all have different dreams for our children but I think I can safely say that we all share a desire to see our children grow into intelligent, successful and cultured men and women.

Where we tend to fall apart though, is how to make that happen.

There have been multiple studies (and a billion anecdotal experiences) backing up the fact that children who are read to on a daily basis and have a home filled with books and literature experience a multitude of benefits for their cognition and literacy skills. A study conducted by Ohio State estimated that children who are read to on a daily basis from birth are exposed to around 290,000 words by the age of five in contrast to children who are placed in front of a TV screen or left alone. They have higher levels of reading comprehension at younger age and use a wider range of vocabulary in their daily life.

Seeing mom and dad form the words from the page to their lips creates neural connections in your child's brain as they see the relationship between the written word and the spoken sounds. In addition to the developmental benefits, it strengthens the bonds between you and your children and creates lasting memories. It's designated family time that establishes routines and traditions and can even help create a bedtime routine.

On Fireside Words, we have a collection of book suggestions for children including Frog and Toad, Winnie the Pooh and Stuart Little. My suggestion to new parents is always to read early, read often and read the classics first and foremost to your kids. In the works of Dr. Seuss, Arnold Lobel and E.B. White you'll find a rich use of vocabulary, fun and witty stories and setups and a wide range of positive and appropriate material to read each and every day!

If your child has trouble sitting still for story time, don't stress about it. Continue reading and encouraging them to sit down with you until the story or the section of the book is finished and stay consistent! Some children acquire the skill and the love of reading slower than others. That's perfectly fine. You are building a foundation that is not always easy to see at first but it pays dividends for them as young men and women. Whether you know it or not, they'll appreciate it in time.

One small note : When looking at classics, if you want the work of the original author, make sure that the book is written by the author and not just have the characters of the author. In many cases, such as with Curious George and Dr. Suess, a larger company or institution owns the rights to the characters and so newer books are created by different authors that simply use the original characters. You may find the writing and storytelling to be inferior in such cases. An example is when I select Curious George books for my kids, I make sure the book says 'H.A. Rey' and not 'Based on the characters of Margaret and H.A. Rey'.

Reading to your kids also doesn't have to be an expensive endeavor either. Barnes & Noble can get pricey over time and so can Amazon if you're buying new. That's where secondhand stores come in handy!

My family will make regular trips to Half Priced Books, Goodwill and other used bookstores to find something they like and after a brief review to make sure it's appropriate, I'll ring it up and add it to our home collection. Every so often, we'll clear out some outgrown books and bring them back to Goodwill or Half Priced.

The movement to improve the intelligence, literacy and writing skills of American children can begin today in your home with a little time each and every day!

Go read something!

Michael Hernandez