12 Benefits of Reading to your Children

90% of all brain development happens in the first 5 years of life

Your baby will soak up every single thing they are exposed to. For example, how your baby felt when they did something, what they did, what muscles were used, what they saw, what they liked, what they didn’t like. Nothing is left out or forgotten. But what are the benefits of reading to our children early in life? Well, I've created a list that highlights some of the main benefits. 

• Academic Success: If you read from infancy, your baby will be king of the school jungle as your little genius will have developed strong language and communication skills.
• School Readiness: Reading helps your child become accustomed to listening and focusing. (I could have done with a little bit more of that skill when I was a kid)
• Cognitive Benefits: Reading aloud stimulates language skills, cognitive thinking skills, and enhances memory. Ah Yes! The "Happy Snappies" I told you about are all working away to make this happen.
• Build Vocabulary: Reading books aloud can also help build a child's vocabulary. The sooner they have the words to tell you what they need, what's bothering them, how they feel or just having a giggly chat, the better.

The more words parents use when speaking to an 8-month-old infant, the greater their child's vocabulary size at age 3.

• Bonding: Reading aloud helps children bond with their parents. It all comes down to the feeling your baby gets when he or she experiences the sound of your voice, the beat of your heart and the warmth of your embrace that bonds you together forever.
• It supports basic speaking skills: Think of how accents differ around the world. A baby can only speak by learning to listen and replicate the sounds they hear. The more they hear, the more they speak.
• Supports lasting literacy skills: It's like riding a bike. Once they learn, they will never forget how much fun it is to read.
• Emotional and Social Development: Reading helps shape social and emotional development in your children. Now we are getting to Adam's message of love, hugs, kisses and kindness.
• Critical Thinking Skills: Reading encourages your baby to look, point, touch, and answer critical thinking and problem-solving questions. For example, how did Adam get to the moon in his space rocket?
• Builds listening memory: That's those Happy Snappies at it again.
• Imagination and Creativity: Reading feeds their imagination, curiosity and appetite for Knowledge: It brings a whole new meaning to the expression "Eats Books."
• Opens up the World: It teaches them about the world around them. This is particularly true if you read them Adam's World of Wonders, of course.

I really hope you found all this useful and you will read to your children as much and as often as you can! 

Love, 

Benji! 

References and bibliography

• Early childhood brain development has a lifelong impact.
• The Benefits of Reading to Babies
• Reading to infants benefits both baby and adult
• Reading Books to Babies