Bonding with your child is definitely more beneficial for their psychological health than having a digital device babysit them. For that matter, reading bedtime stories or children’s books to them can actually shape what kind of adult they are going to be– or at the very least, give them a head start at school, particularly in Kindergarten.
According to a study conducted by Professor Jessica Logan of Ohio State University, reading to children below the age of five can give them a huge vocabulary advantage. Just how much? Well, each book read to a child in a day lends to about 290,000 new words that they will know by the time they are five years old.
As such, reading them four or more books per day can give their vocabulary more than a million known words by the time they are ready for Kindergarten. In fact, the research even recommends reading five books per day for children below five. This can ensure that they pick up reading and understanding words quickly and more easily.
“Kids who hear more vocabulary words are going to be better prepared to see those words in print when they enter school. The fact that we had so many parents who said they never or seldom read to their kids was pretty shocking to us. We wanted to figure out what that might mean for their kids,” stated Logan.
Of course, you can always talk to them or let them hear the words you use, it’s just that introducing them to more complex words or concepts is done better by reading and with books. Logan did explain that “This isn’t about everyday communication. The words kids hear in books are going to be much more complex, difficult words than they hear just talking to their parents and others in the home.”
So, better not skip that bedtime story.
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