Reading at Bedtime
Top 3 benefits of reading with your children before bed
Written by: Lamis Benjelloun
The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.
Dr. Seuss
Never have truer words been said in a children’s book: reading not only fills up our information bank, it also allows our imagination to travel far and wide, thinking about all the things we are reading. As parents, we want to nourish our children’s love for books not only by modelling the behaviour through reading ourselves but also by making reading a fun part of their day. The easiest place to do that is to simply add it to their bedtime routine! And if you are not convinced, here are three reasons why reading with your children can make a great addition to, and even enhance, said routine.
1. Reading before bedtime creates a close physical bond with parents, lowers stress levels and cues in sleep
Imagine that you are wrapping up the bedtime routine: you have run after, begged and struggled with your kiddos to change their diapers, put on their pyjamas and brush their teeth. You sit on the bed/rocking chair, get comfortable and open a book. When you snuggle with your child at the end of a busy day to read a book, it creates a moment of calm and quiet. In that moment, both you and your child are relaxed and are able to enjoy one another, strengthening that bond between the two of you.
As your kids grow older, this “moment” is a great opportunity to chat about their day and bring up any difficult topics: I mean, what better way to bring up a difficult subject than by introducing it through a book! Whether you are attempting potty training, dealing with bullying, introducing a new sibling or comforting a child through a loss in the family, there is always an age-appropriate book to help you do that. As they read about characters having similar experiences, You children can find comfort in the fact that their feelings are normal and validated. And this provides you, as the parent, with an easy reference to bring up the next day when talking to your own children: “Remember when so and so felt this in the book?”
As an added bonus, the repeatedly relaxed mood in which your child is receiving that story becomes a strong cue for bedtime. Pretty soon, reading a few pages just automatically relaxes them and brings on the sleep! And for many people, this remains true through adulthood.
2. Reading encourages language and literacy development
It is not a secret that the more kids read, the more vocabulary they acquire. They are exposed to different words and different sounds which makes them better equipped to read and comprehend when they get older. Perhaps as you read, you are narrating the illustrations they see, or you are exaggerating certain sounds. Or as most of us undoubtedly have had to do at some point or another, you are reading the same story over and over again. All of these activities become the building blocks of their vocabulary, writing and reading comprehension.
3. Reading helps develop logic skills
We know that reading helps feed our children’s imagination. And though you probably know the words to your kid’s favorite story by heart, know that children who read or are read to often and repeatedly learn to make connections. As they read each story over and over, they start to see patterns and recognise what comes next. This ability to notice the sequence of events has far reaching effect on many areas of their lives (think math, science, music) as it teaches them to think logically and predict outcomes.
I’m sure that if I dig deeper, I will find even more reasons why reading to your kids is beneficial. But I hope that the reasons above are enough to convince you that spending just a few minutes curled up on your child’s bed reading will have the most significant impact on his or her life. Do you read with your children at night?
