Reading With Your Kids

 

 About a year ago I submitted an article to Readingwithyourkids.com. Lately I've been revisiting this area in my own life as we're working hard to raise a fellow book worm, so I'm republishing it with permission here. Hope you enjoy! PS, Rory and the folks at Reading with Your Kids also have a podcast which is a really great listen for my fellow kidlit lovers. 

Before my daughter was born, my husband and I read to her. We'd pick a book from the small pile my mom, a retired school teacher and children's librarian, had sent us in the mail, giggling at the awkwardness of animatedly telling a story to my belly. We'd laugh at lines like, “Daddies are delicious,” and wonder what she'd think of these books once she arrived. 

Those early days feel long behind us now, but we never stopped reading to our daughter, now three, and our son, who just turned four months old. We've all gone through phases of waxing and waning interest and engagement, like our daughter at four weeks of age, when she'd stare at us with a puzzled expression—or just cry—or at one year when the most interesting thing about books was the flavor. From the sleepless nights of early infancy to the trying days of defiant toddlerhood, we have always come back to reading together. Whether cuddled on the couch on a rainy afternoon or plopping down in a corner of our local library, reading together has become a comforting constant for our family. 

Reading as a family is more than just a pleasant activity to enjoy together. Reading to children as young as newborns has many benefits both in their early brain development and further down the road once they are school-aged. Literacy has been associated with higher education completion rates and earning potential and lower school dropout and incarceration rates. Moreover, the vast majority of brain development occurs in the window from birth to two years of age. Reading to children during this critical period facilitates that development. 

The benefits of reading with young children are well studied, and as a pediatrician, I'm lucky to work with and counsel new parents throughout early childhood on why reading to children can be so beneficial. Here are just a few reasons why reading to your kids is so important—especially at a young age—and some tips on making it more fun as a family. 

Reading aloud improves early childhood vocabulary. Children learn words from what they hear in the world around them. Some of this comes from conversations with parents and peers. But books—even picture books—have richer, more complex language and expose children to higher-level vocabulary at an early age. Both types of language are crucial for success later in life, and the more words children are exposed to early in childhood, the more successful they are at reading once they reach school age. 

You certainly don’t have to start with long books containing big words or complex sentences; in fact, it’s best to start small. For young infants, choose picture-forward books with shorter text. Brains are programmed to enjoy looking at faces, so books featuring people and facial expressions are a good choice at this age. You can talk about things happening in the pictures, ask open-ended questions, and point out objects on the pages. 

Reading exposes infants to natural speech patterns. Have you heard of serve and return language? If not, you've certainly heard it. It's the natural way that people converse with each other every day, such as asking a question while another person replies or making a comment that someone responds to. It’s often described as a tennis match. One person serves the ball to their partner across the net, and the other returns it, continuing the conversation This type of interactive speech pattern has many benefits both in speech development and secure attachment to caregivers. Not only does it model and help babies practice this style of speech pattern, but also, by encouraging and responding to an infant’s coos and babbles, it fosters secure attachment and positive brain development. 

How can you practice serve and return language with your kids? Ask questions! What do you think will happen next? Who do you see in this picture? Will you count all the animals with me? Try it the next time you're reading with your child. Even in the pre-verbal period, this encourages infant babbling, which develops into normal language patterns later in life. 

Reading together promotes parental bonding. When you enjoy doing something, you want to do it more. Anyone who has binge-watched a TV show or eaten chocolate can tell you this, but it’s also a scientific fact. Reading is no different. When children associate reading with curling up on the couch with loved ones, it creates a positive association that will bring them back to reading again and again. 

Some great ways to incorporate more reading into quality time include reading during bedtime and naptime routines, taking little ones on outings to the library, and attending local story time events with them. We also always keep books within arm’s reach at home—we keep a large basket of picture books next to the couch, in our bedroom, and in our children’s play spaces. Some parents may use a tent, pillows, or toddler-sized furniture to create a reading nook in the home. This creates plenty of natural opportunities to plop down on the couch and read together. 

Reading the same story allows for language acquisition. Any parent of a toddler right now can probably recite every word of at least one of their kid’s favorite books. For us, it’s Little Blue Truck and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. At their peak, my daughter would ask us to read these books upwards of ten times a day. What gives? As it turns out, it’s more than just your toddler trying to assert some autonomy (although that’s certainly part of it). Every time you reread that story, your child is listening, learning, and solidifying their understanding of new words and concepts. With each reread, children are listening, processing, and understanding more of what’s being read. 

Reading together is an important part of school readiness. In addition to exposing children to natural speech patterns and vocabulary, reading together introduces children to the building blocks of literacy. This includes identifying sounds in spoken words, connecting letters to sounds, understanding what is being read, vocabulary, and fluency. While your child doesn't have to be reading before kindergarten, exposure to the building blocks of literacy through reading aloud together will help children achieve literacy once they reach school age. 

A final note. Reading to a young child is not always easy. It may feel strange in early infancy or later, in the toddler years. It may become exhausting as they get distracted, uninterested, or feel too wiggly to sit through an entire book. The one constant in early childhood is that kids change constantly; what didn’t appeal to them last week will suddenly become their favorite thing. Remember, if your child goes through a period where they’re no longer interested in reading, don’t push it, and try not to sweat it. You can always switch to shorter books, less time reading, or take a break altogether and try again in a few days.

Not long ago, I came home from a shift stressed out. It had been a busy day, with back-to-back patients, complicated issues to triage, and little time to eat, drink, or pump breast milk for my baby boy. I walked through the door on edge and eager to shower off the stress and germs of a busy day at the clinic before hugging my little ones. 

“Mama, I missed you! Can we read?” My daughter, almost three here, was making a beeline to hug me, scrubs and all. 

“Not yet!” I said. “Wait until I’ve showered!” 

Since we’re heading into cold and flu season, I make a conscious effort to change clothes before embracing my children. A shock of guilt ran through me. The disappointment was written all over her face. 

I hurried through my shower and tossed on my favorite lounge pants, sweatshirt, and socks, eager to find my daughter before she lost interest in hanging out with me. I found her in one of our favorite reading spots, curled deep into the corner of our couch, surrounded by her stuffed animal friends, her favorite plastic Maui figurine, and, of course, piles of picture books. She was reading to herself—or at least trying. She’s memorized a few of her favorite titles by heart. 

“Sorry, I had to shower first,” I told her. “Can we still read some books together?” A smile lit up her face. “Of course we can!” she exclaimed. “Let’s start with this one.” 

Sources: 

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5. Serve and return. Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. (2020, January 27). https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/serve-and-return/ 

6. Kok, R., Thijssen, S., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. et al. (2015). Normal variation in early parental sensitivity predicts child structural brain development. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 54(10), 824–831.

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9. Razdan, S. (2023). 10 tips to help your child fall in love with reading. HealthyChildren.org. https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/gradeschool/school/Pages/10-Tips-to-Hel p-Your-Child-Fall-in-Love-with-Reading.aspx#:~:text=Read%20together%20before%20bedtime.,r ead%20a%20book%20to%20you! 

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https://www.mottchildren.org/posts/your-child/reading-and-literacy-children