Do you read books to your children or grandchildren? It seems that this has become a lost art. It is so much easier to turn on the television and sit them in front of it or give them our iPad to play with. Family movie nights are great but I am suggesting something else. Why not, instead of watching a movie together, read a book together?
There are at least five important reasons why you should read to your children:
1. It stimulates their imagination. Nothing gets our imagination going like a good story. Television and movies are good but they tend to tell us and show us everything. Great fiction forces us to create pictures and a storyboard in our minds. When children hear a story, they are forced to use their imaginations like they never will watching TV.
2. It provides quality time with our children. We are all busy with so many things. Time with our children is often one of the first things that gets neglected in our hectic lifestyles. Creating the habit of reading to our children gives us some great time together and will create memories that will stay with them forever.
3. Reading to our children will give them a love for reading. Why read a book today when we can just wait until the movie comes out? This seems to be the prevailing view of so many people I know. Helping our children develop a love for literature is one of the greatest life skills we can impart to them. “Leaders are readers.” If we want our children to make a difference in the world, let’s start equipping them early on with a love for reading.
4. It will very likely help them in school. Reading to our kids is going to help them to have a broader world view, better critical thinking skills, and an exposure to differing viewpoints. Of course, when they are young, you can focus on reading books that highlight important skills such as reading and counting. As they get older, though, you can begin to expose them to some great works of literature that they will enjoy but will also educate them in other ways.
5. Reading to our children creates opportunities for great conversations. Our kids are inquisitive by nature. They want to learn! As they hear a great story, it provides us with some great teaching moments. Why do you think that character did what they did? What do you think they should have done? Have you ever had to make a decision to do the right thing, even when it was hard? What could that character have done differently? Stories give us the chance to teach our children great life skills and help them form good values.
Can you think of any other benefits of reading to your children?
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