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Literacy & Littles:

Why You Want to be Raising a Reader

We all know that reading to your children daily has so many benefits. There's a solid list of benefits below, with tips and tricks to make daily reading a seamless success. But honestly, as a mama, I think this is my favourite one thus far: 

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Completely unprompted, my two and a half year old got out of bed on her own this morning, used her little stepping stool to turn on her lights and made a comfy place on her chair. When I opened her door to get her ready for preschool, I found her quietly "reading" to herself (in her Princess Anna dress, of course). 


Since moving to her big girl bed a few weeks ago, she has started this little routine completely on her own. I could not be more proud of her, watching her be proud of herself. 💗

 

Her love of books didn't happen overnight, but with a simple dedication her father and I made when she was a few months old. We wanted to read five books a day with her. Any five books. Even if they were mainly pictures, flaps or textures and there was only one word on the page. That was okay. Two and a half years later, those kinds of books are still okay, if that's what she wants to read.

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Why Five Books a Day?

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Five books a day is roughly 20 minutes of daily reading. Sometimes we spread it out throughout the day (she is a toddler, after all); sometimes we read all five -or more- all at once (again, toddler). Research shows that by the time a child is five-years-old their brain is 90% developed. According to Elizabeth Barnes, Executive Director of Children's Reading Foundation of the Mid-Columbia, “Reading a minimum of 20

 

As parents, we want to give our children all of the tools that we can to help them be successful. As parents in the modern world, there never seems to be enough time, money or energy to sustainably feel like we are achieving that. Reading daily is one way to help make it happen. Twenty minutes a day is completely doable.

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Read a book over a bowl of cereal, in the car while you're waiting in line at the the drive-thru, during bath time or before bed. Your local library will be a great resource for doing it all for free, and your child will love the independence of picking out their own books. Plus, call me crazy, isn't it nice to have an excuse to just sit for a few minutes? 

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minutes a day allows children's vocabulary to grow and expand,

exposing them to 1.8 million vocabulary words a year.” 

Benefits

  • Bonding Time

  • Increases Listening Skills

  • Increases Cognitive Development

  • Increases Literacy Acquisition

  • Increases Verbal Skills

  • Engages the Imagination

  • Supports Social-Emotional Growth and Understanding

  • Builds Empathy and Strengthens Relationships

  • Reduces Stress and Anxiety

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  • Exposes children to 1,800,000 words per year

  • Nearly 10,000 books read by Kindergarten

  • 7,300 minutes of quality family time per year

  • Consistent reading routines increase stability, concentration and discipline

  • Empowers child by attaining reachable goals

  • Fosters independence to achieve 

  • Will likely score better than 90% of peers on standardized testing

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Tips & Tricks

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