Cultivating a reading culture is important at an early age. As parents set a routine in the household, it is vital to squeeze in storytime for kids before bedtime.
More often than not, it is difficult for kids to fall asleep right away and that is where story time comes in. Storytelling is relaxing, makes the child calm down, and reduces the stress they have had throughout the day.
Ensure proper book selection as kids tend to lean more towards interesting stories.
Below is why storytime is important for kids at bedtime.
- Enhances their vocabulary.
The child is able to learn new words, understand sounds, literacy skills, and languages through storytime.
- Improves the child’s imagination.
Every time you read or tell a story to a child, they imagine the characters, the setting et cetera. This encourages imagination which further develops their creativity skills.
- Helps in learning about the world.
Exposing your child to different stories from different parts of the world broadens their knowledge about different cultures and traditions.
- Sharpens the child’s memory.
Storytelling sharpens the child’s memory. Parents can review the story after reading it with their children. An exercise of asking simple questions after the story to see if they can recall the story is helpful.
- Imparts necessary values.
Depending on the story, kids are able to learn and understand certain values and morals imparted from the story. It could be teaching how to be patient, honest, kind among other virtues.
- The child learns foundation skills.
During this time, a child is able to practice the skills of listening, sitting still and being quiet throughout the duration of the story. These skills will be helpful as they grow older.
- Develop concentration of the child.
Keeping a child still is very difficult and so is having them concentrate on one thing for a long time. Make the story interesting by acting and playing it out to increase the concentration levels of the child. Also enhancing the story by using songs, toys, puppets and sounds will help in concentration.
- Learning social and communication skills.
As you read to your little one, engage with them and let them participate in the storytime. Let them express themselves and their thoughts and feelings concerning the story thereby developing their social and communication skills.
- Helps in the development of the child’s brain.
Overall brain development happens during storytime as the child learns to grasp details, words, sounds, and languages from stories.
- Simplifies the child’s learning.
Storytelling is the foundation of learning. It prepares the child for future academics. Since it improves concentration and focus which is vital at school, storytime prepares and makes learning easier for kids.
As much as storytime is beneficial for children, it is also helpful for their parents as well. It is a way of bonding with the children and creating solid and healthy relationships with them. Therefore, it is important to incorporate storytime in our daily routines to reap the benefits.
