Shall I tell you what my favourite time of the day is? When I’m at work, it’s ‘Read Aloud’ and when I’m at home it’s the early morning snuggle on the sofa when I share stories and poems with our youngest radish. You just can’t beat it. There’s an excitement coupled with a true sense of intimacy that can’t be replicated in other situation.
Now obviously I would advocate story time, but I thought I’d share some facts which justify my passion for sharing books with children:
1. It’s a bonding experience between adult and child. The story can be read from a book or part of a rich oral tradition from your family. It gives you protected time to talk and explore ideas.
2. Daily routines are so important, especially for young children. By building in a bedtime or early morning story session, you are helping to shape the child’s day. It’s a break from the rush rush rush of ‘real’ life.
3. It prepares children for reading, because they become so familiar with books that they are nothing to be worried about. They learn how to interact with the pages, how to ask questions and start to form opinions. A young child will soon tell you if they want to hear the story again (and again, and again…) or if they want to move onto soemthing new.
4. Reading with children builds up their vocabulary and in turn, their ability to communicate with others. You can’t deny that a well read child (that includes being read to, not just reading by themselves) often has more to say than a child who has no experience of books.
5. It opens up a child’s world to experiences which they may not have access to in reality. We discover so much of others and ourselves when we dip into a book, it’s a perfact catalyst for learning.
So there you have it; I could go on, but it’s been a very long day and I don’t want to fall asleep on the keyboard!
Chicken and Frog Bookshop 