Some of the most pleasurable times my late husband and I experienced while raising our two sons was reading to them at bedtime. We had many books from which my sons would choose the nighttime read. Often, we read the same book over and over though. With the reading came the talking and laughing and of course, the good night hugs and kisses. In addition to all these benefits, bedtime stories can have a great impact on your children’s brain development.
An online article on parents.com titled The Brainy Benefits of Bedtime Stories, gives us information about this impact:
It helps to build an inner dictionary – The key is to develop your children’s language skills by stopping and asking questions about what is being read. The article gives the following example: “If a mother points to Curious George's baseball cap and asks her child, ‘Do you have a hat like that?’ she's offering him practice in using language correctly.” Also, books introduce children to new ideas and concepts that they have not yet experienced, such as cultures in other countries and foods they have never eaten.
Reading a book over and over helps develop logic skills – When you read a book to your children for the first time, they have not heard everything. They often want you to read it to them again and again. Try stopping and asking “What do you think happens next?” “Later, these lessons in recognizing patterns, understanding sequences, and predicting outcomes will help children in other areas, from math and science to music and writing.”
A cozy bed and soothing reading actually benefit a child’s cognitive development – “When kids are cozy and comfortable, reading aloud to them can even lower their stress levels. When a child experiences any strain—such as being bullied or starting a new school—his brain tries to protect him by producing the hormone cortisol, which activates the body's ‘fight or flight’ response. In small doses, cortisol can actually help kids handle normal stress. In larger amounts, however, it can block learning.”
To read the full article, please visit:
https://www.parents.com/fun/entertainment/books/the-brainy-benefits-of-bedtime-stories/