Bonding through books

There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all.

- Jacqueline Kennedy

Reading aloud to your child is the most important boost you can provide to him to develop love for books. It is also a magical way to create a strong and nurturing bond with your child and it is priceless.

Reading aloud gives children an opportunity to build up superior vocabulary, fine writing skills and to do well overall in school. Studies show that reading out loud can actually wire a child's brain to recognize patterns and sequences and predict outcomes. This is the cognitive skill that help a child think, learn, reason and provide logical solutions to a situation.

The benefits of reading with your child go far beyond than simply decoding words. Reading sharpens listening and conversation skills, increases attention span, sparks the imagination, and expands a child's knowledge of the world around him.

Children desire more time with their parents, and reading is an exciting and motivating way for parents to spend quality time with them. The time spent together encourages one-to-one communication between you and your child, laying the foundation for your child’s social, communication and interpersonal skills.

The joint experience of literature is not limited to words on the page. It is a gateway to sharing and exploring new worlds and discovering each other’s ideas and opinions.

Through stories, you can impart important lessons of life to your child about behaviour, social skills, feelings, and relationships. Reading aloud good books is a very efficient way of reducing stress and anxiety amongst children.

In Indian culture, for generations, fathers have normally maintained a distant and authoritative role in the family. Having him read aloud to the children provides a great opportunity to inculcate strong bonding between them.

Reading aloud doesn't have to stop once a child becomes an independent reader. By constantly choosing books a mark or two above their current level, you can continue to challenge their thinking and open the door to discussion about topics that may otherwise be difficult to bring up.

Reading aloud time is a gift for time-challenged parents who may feel guilty about missing special moments with their children.

And, all this magic can happen with only 10 minutes of regular reading aloud every day.

Currently, I am reading ‘Anne of Green Gables' by Lucy Maud Montgomery to my children, 11 and 8 years old and I am loving every minute of it.