Posted on 09/29/2015 10:44:38 AM PDT by samtheman
A recent survey, by YouGov for the children’s publisher Scholastic, revealed last week that many parents stop reading to their children when they become independent readers, even if the child isn’t ready to lose their bedtime story. The study found that 83% of children enjoyed being read aloud to, with 68% describing it as a special time with their parents. (“It felt so warm, so spirit-rising,” as one 11-year-old boy put it.)
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
I still read to my ten-year-old. (And the eight-year-old twins, but they’re autistic and need it more, being developmentally delayed.)
The catch is, if it’s age-appropriate reading level, I insist he reads it; the books I read to him are more difficult and challenging. It has shown marked improvement in his reading/listening comprehension and language skills. Plus, I get to share some of my favorite books with him.
I agree. It's such a simple thing to do that pays so many dividends (added to which is the one on one time spent with one's child. No shoving an iPad into junior's hands can match that.)
Congrats. My older dog, an 85 lb. Pitador, is also named Ulysses and he has the same nickname.
With six kiddos I’ve memorized at least six books over the years. The latest is “The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry and The Big Hungry Bear”. My two year old loves it, but doesn’t quite get it yet. Every time the page talks about the big hungry bear she calmly, matter of factly and patiently corrects me ,”It’s a mouse”. Every night, every page. And, every night I explain that we are talking to the mouse. Then I turn the page, read about the bear and hear,”It’s a mouse”.
” but I know it sure helped me.”
But I digress. The stories we read actually helped me be a better parent, sometimes. I felt I undertood boys better after reading Thomas the Tank Engine (original) stories, and Pinocchio and Captain Underpants. Junie B. Jones was really similar to my daughter sometimes, and then Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter, later on.
We still read outloud on road trips. Our latest was Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. That book about Zamperini was a recent read, as well.
What a happy topic!
True. I used to read to my daughter. When she could read, we took turns reading a page. She enjoyed that.
My dad used to read to us kids when we were in grade school.
I came across a certificate I got when I was in second grade in 1961 for reading a book called, Otto in Texas. I ended up buying a copy of my own off of ebay. My 9 year old grand-daughter from Dallas was up visiting us this last Christmas. She would read the speaking parts for the Texas oil tycoon, Sam Hill with her southern accent and then revert to her yankee accent for the rest of the story. We got a real kick out of it.
For me, it was "Tuffy the Tugboat".
I remember reading out loud to my younger sisters. They loved it. I was pretty young myself. Many years later, I would sit in the rocking chair with my son on my lap and read to him. He still has many of his favorite books, and his wife has many of her favorites as well. She reads to their little daughter (18 mos) every night before they put her to bed.
Good job raising your little 6 year old!
I think what is key with parents that read to there kids is that they are an active part of that child’s life show me a parent that does not read to there kid in all probability you have a parent that is so self absorbed that they are not taking an active interest in other parts of there life. that parent then is surprised when there kid starts acting out not realizing that if they had sat down with there kid after work and helped them with homework or had cone up with a special project to work on with there son or daughters help there kid would not be in trouble.
as a 50 year old adult I look at those times my dad forced me to do tasks with him that I did not want to do and actively hated him for making me do with fondness and realize that it was that attention that shaped me and molded me to being a moral person.
He still has many of his favorite books,...
Academic success comes from being smart or taught phonics—and then reading a lot.
This thread renews my faith in humanity.
Pretty sure none of the kids/siblings or anybody referenced here is a tranny or “questioning”.
My daughter is 4. She demands storytime. It is a quiet end to our busy day and settles her down. The melatonin gummies help too.
There’s a theory that reading stories promotes synapse development in young children. Thus I try to tell her stories and stimulate her mind whenever we are in the car also. She is so accustomed to it she complains at the momentary silence.
I am plum out of stories!
For years, I told my children bed times stories off the top of my head...
Long legs Lenny: the Frog, Sylvester the hapless Bunny and several others.
A few years ago my daughter asked me if I had the "books" I used to tell them about so she could read them to her kids...
She was quite surprised I actually made them up on the go...
She still remembers them because she used her imagination to fill out characters in the stores I told...
I read to my kids and grandkids. When they learned to read independently I had them read bedtime stories to me!
Before they could read I would have them look at the pictures and make up a story as I turned the pages. Sometimes they came up with some real doozies!
which story is the key
I’ll go out on a limb here and say it’s NOT “Susie has Two Moms.
My 5th grade teacher (Mrs. Montgomery, Provident Heights Elementary in Waco, Texas) got me hooked on reading. When she found out I hadn’t read my library book she made me sit and read it the entire day.
To this day I still have a copy of that book (Island of the Blue Dolphins). My wife sometimes says that I read too much. I told her that’s not possible. Often when I surprise her with some knowledge she will ask how I know that. I just smile and say, “I read a lot!”
We have a variation of this, actually mandated by the charter school he’s going to.
We have to keep a daily reading log (7 days a week) of a minimum of 15 minutes a day of reading he has to do to us. Not at bedtime, though. Bedtime is for the traditional we-read-to-him.
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