We all know reading helps develop a child’s intelligence and creativity. When a parent reads to a child early, the child develops speech and listening skills faster than average. More than the intellectual benefits, reading to your child also bring emotional benefits, such as the following:

• Reading to your childs builds an emotional bond between you and your child. The time spent on reading together gives your child a sense of intimacy and well-being.
• The sense of intimacy of reading to your child becomes a pleasurable experience to your child. It builds a positive attitude towards reading as your child grows up.
• Reading and listening to your voice calms your child, especially when he feels fretful and restless.
• Reading promotes increased communication between you and your child.

reading provides an excellent opportunity for one-on-one communication between parent and child. It also gives the child the attention he or she craves. Aside from attention, children also learn appropriate behavior when they are read to. They are exposed to new situations, making them more prepared when they encounter these situations in real life.

Some children have problems with focusing their attention to one task for a long period. Reading to them becomes a challenge, which parents and in-home tutors can overcome by keeping the child emotionally and mentally engaged with the activity. Here are a few tips that parents and in-home tutors can follow to make reading together with the child fun as well as enlightening.

• Put together a selection of children’s books with bright, colorful illustrations and written by popular children’s authors. The topics or stories should connect well with the child’s age group.
• Involve your child in selecting books for reading. Books should be read many times to practice reading aloud as well as develop a child’s reading comprehension. Encouraging a child to choose the books also ensures his or her interest in what he or she is reading.
• Get into the story and act out some of the scenes. Roar like a lion or squeak like a mouse. Sounds and actions paired with words expand a child’s imagination. As the child builds his or her ability to think and visualize the story, his or her creativity also expands. Creativity is actually an important aspect of learning.
• When the child encounters new words or does not understand the story, parents or in-home tutors should explain what the words mean or what the story may mean. They should also ask a child what he or she thinks of the story and how it relates to him or her.
• For parents, snuggling and cuddling with your child also makes reading an intimate experience. Because bedtime is usually the time for reading books or telling stories, children feel calmer and happier before sleeping. This often discourages nightmares and night terrors that are common occurrences during childhood.

You have probably heard of the saying, “Charity begins at home.” In the field of teaching and in-home tutoring, literacy begins at home, too. Formal education for your children may start when he or she starts attending school, but learning begins before that.

As a parent, one of your responsibilities is to look after your child’s intellectual development. It is in your child’s best interests when you begin reading to him or her as early as possible. An advocacy group for reading and literacy, Literacy Connections, advises parents not to wait until their child is older before they begin reading to them.

Reading to your child has many benefits. The most important, of course, is building a close bond with your child. Make your reading sessions a nightly habit. Soon, this habit will turn into an important aspect of your child’s character. Reading with your child has life-long benefits, which include development of a longer attention span, listening skills and imagination. Pre-school children who learn the language by hearing words and listening to sentences tend to do well in school.

This assertion parallels the results from a Rhode Island study that compared two groups of 8-month-old babies. The parents of one group read to them while the other group’s parents did not. The study revealed that the group of babies who listened to their parents read aloud to them understood more words since babyhood than the other group of babies.

A life-long interest in reading leads to development of life-long skills in learning, which involves listening skills. Along with learning skills, children also develop their creativity and curiosity. As a result, children who read books more often perform better in school.