Photo by Andy Kuzma
Read aloud to your child daily.
There. There you have it.
You can close your device, walk away, and if you will commit to doing this one thing, you give your child the most important skill they need to succeed in school, and in life—a love of reading.
Minutes invested in a nightly bedtime story will pay unimaginable dividends in personal confidence, academic accomplishments and even college tuition down the road.
Right now, someone’s rolling their eyes, doubting it’s that simple. Someone else feels overwhelmed, as anxiety floods in. The voices of pushback are shouting “but life is so busy. Our schedule is nuts running from work to errands to play dates to classes . . .”; “We’re too tired and cranky at bedtime to add something else to the routine”; “My kid is wound up at night. TV is the only way to calm him.”
The perfectionists’ eyes just widened. “Wait, every night? Do you mean 365 times a year? Because if that’s the standard, I’ve failed.”
Take a deep breath.
Many parents do read almost daily to their kids. Hold fast, friends. Your labor is not in vain. You may never fully know the extent to which you are blessing your children. But between screen media inundation, recent social isolation, and parents’ own screen-related distraction, many others have given up. It’s easier to click a button and let TV take center stage.
If this is you, know that you are not alone.
Let go of the guilt—if you’re still reading this article, you’re moving in the right direction. Most parents today feel helpless and anxious about the repercussions of too much screen time. You can at least minimize these if you detox from the media monster and share the joy of reading with your child.
It’s not a magic formula, but reading daily is the jumping-off place. Books open the door to a world of confidence with information, imagination and learning. This shared activity—time spent with parents in a close, positive, relaxed environment—will do more to set your child on the road to success than you can envision right now.
Reading aloud helps kids form an emotional connection with books—one of peace, pleasure and confidence. Books can feel approachable, like a safe place, a place of comfort. This is important on so many levels. It makes school (and classrooms and assignments) less intimidating and more inviting. It reduces school-related anxiety. Fostering a love of reading is worth every ounce of energy you have, and those you don’t.
Even if your busy schedule only allows 10 minutes for a bedtime story, those may be the most important 10 minutes you spend all day. These minutes are more important to your relationship with your child than hours of perfectly executed household chores, money-making business calls, or shopping for an adorable outfit for your playgroup’s zoo trip. They’re definitely more important than time spent on Disney+, Hulu or social media. If you must skip something in your day, don’t skip the bedtime story. At least not often.
Someone reading this is biting their nails, asking, “What if I haven’t been reading consistently? Are we already out of the game?” Absolutely not. Commit now to adding a consistent reading time to your daily routine. You decide when is best for your family. Bedtime reading is nice because it transitions your child to a calm state. Turn off all screens. Do baths, teeth brushing, prayers, and whatever your bedtime routine holds; then find a cozy, peaceful spot and read.
Reading to children often and modeling reading throughout the day are ideal. But on busy days when that’s not a reality, when you’ve run from errand to errand, cleaned your house from top to bottom, or spent most of the day in the car, make that bedtime story a priority.
At what age do children need this? Is there a window when it’s most important? We’ll talk more about the sensitive period for language (a vital window of time in child development) in the next article. But, for now: read to your elementary-age kids, preschoolers, toddlers and babies. They all need it.
