Top 5 Reasons to Read to Your Child

Today I bring you a wonderful guest post on the benefits of reading with your child. Enjoy!



5 Reasons to Read with Your Child

As a parent, you obviously want to raise your child to be the bright, intelligent individual you know they can be. But, outside of ensuring they get a quality education, what else can you do to boost their learning potential? One of the best ways is making reading an integral part of their lives from early on. Not only will this help your child gain fundamental reading skills, but there are many other benefits. From helping determine if they might need prescription eyeglasses to developing their language and speech skills, reading to your toddler offers advantages you might not have considered. Below are the top five reasons reading to your young child is important.


1. Preparing for school

Your child’s reading skills are critical to his or her success in school. So, why not set them up for success by instilling in them the importance of reading from an early age? Exposing your child to reading before they enter preschool will help ensure they’re well prepared for kindergarten and give them a good grasp on what to expect. The ability to put together words and sentences in the stories you read to them will lead to better cognitive skills in all subjects, as well as improved social interaction with peers.


2. Detecting vision problems

Whether or not you’ve taken your child for his or her first visit to the optometrist, you know them better than anyone and will be the first person to notice if something is off. Reading with your child is a great way to detect vision problems early on. Is he or she squinting at the page or having a hard time following the right line of text as you read? These could be signs that you child may need prescription eyeglasses. If you notice any of these indicators, make an appointment with your optometrist and share what you’ve noticed during your reading sessions. Detecting vision problems at an early age is the best way to help ensure a lifetime of healthy vision.


3. Bonding time with you

When your child is an infant, you have a seemingly endless amount of one-on-one with them. But, as they progress to toddler age, they’ll be constantly moving, playing, exploring, and possibly away at daycare or play dates. That’s why your time spent reading with them at this age is so precious. It gives you an opportunity to slow down and spend quality time with each other without other distractions getting in the way. Rather than being viewed as another task on your to-do list, allow reading with your child to become a cherished tradition that brings you closer.


4. Developing speech and language skills

Toddlerhood is a time where an infinite amount of learning is taking place, and critical language and speech skills are no exception. As you read to your preschooler, you’re helping teach the basic sounds and mouth movements that form language. You’re also helping them with their personal communication skills as they interact with the characters in the book and engage you with questions and dialogue back and forth. As your child gets older, you’ll start noticing him or her imitating you and sounding out words during your story time. These are their first crucial steps toward grasping language and learning to read on their own.


5. Increasing discipline and concentration

Any parent of a toddler knows that getting them to sit still for a length of time is a challenge. The more you make story time a routine, the more they’ll start learning to stay put and pay attention to the entire story. Along with a growing attention span, this will help instill self-discipline in your toddler. Both of these skills will put them in a prime position when they enter school.
Reading to your child is one of the simplest ways to lay a solid foundation for success in school, help improve social skills and increase general cognitive ability. Plus, it’s an enjoyable activity that will give you the added benefit of more quality time with the most important person in your life. With so many potential advantages, there’s no reason not to make reading to your child part of your daily routine.





Post is sponsored by LensCrafters.






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