Guest Post
Parenting has its fine moments when you’ve recently given birth and you’re looking at your little angel all snuggled up at home. Like a sponge absorbing every little smell, sight and sound, your child will use everything around him to orient himself and build the foundations of what will become his basic core as a person. According to Dr. Tim Kimmel, author of Raising Kids Who Turn Out Right, building character can help raise your child to be happy, confident and strong to reach his potential in the future. Raising him this way requires a hands-on approach and none exemplifies this method more than reading to your child.
Reading is considered one of the best ways to spend quality time and can act as early training to build a foundation in literary skills as well. A study conducted by the National Academy of Education and the National Institute of Education in 1985, determined that the most important thing a parent or teacher of an early learner can do is to read aloud to him. Apart from laying the groundwork for reading, you’re also teaching your child listening skills that will help him concentrate on what you’re relaying and therefore increase attention span. You, as a parent, can also impart specific values by choosing books that have moral lessons incorporated in the story. All in all, studies have shown that children who have a prior background to reading achieve greater success in systemic reading education. While we thought that bedtime stories are nothing more than little indulgences, it actually provides your child with structure and trains the body to have a regular sleeping pattern.
Think of it this way: won’t it be nice when the earliest memory your child has of you is the time you spent snuggled up on the couch or in bed reading together? The most precious thing we can give children is our time and if we spend it with them, they will remember it when they grow up and are likely to do the same for their kids. Start early. Don’t wait until they’re running up and down the stairs with their iPad in tow. Whisper to them stories while they’re still wrapped in their Marks and Spencer baby clothes looking at you with those glowing eyes and innocent smiles. Believe me, it’s worth it.