Looking Back on Bedtime Stories

As a child, my favorite book was "Bootsie Barker Bites" by Barbara Bottner. I can clearly remember my mom sitting next to me and reading the story over and over again. I'm pretty sure we read it together from the ages of 4-8. I loved it. I even learned big words like "paleontologist." Yep, I was cool. I still have the book with edges ripped and colored on with my own interpretation of Bootsie Barker's hat. 


So okay, I liked that story as a kid, what is the point of this post? I want to talk about not just education reform, but education as a child and the role of the parent. If you have ever wandered over to the U.S. Department of Education website there is a whole page dedicated to "Helping Your Child Become a Reader." Throughout the page things such as "read to your child" and "talk to your child" are mentioned. Well, yea. What would you do? How would you not talk to your child? As Jane E. Brody mentions in the article in the NY Times,  this is not a common feature anymore. Many adults are turning to their cell phones and Ipods rather than talking to their babies and interacting with them. This is a huge deal, but why?


"Children whose parents read to them tend to become better readers and perform better in school (Snow, Burns, and Griffin 1998)." These students will come into Kindergarden with a higher vocabulary and, in theory, will be a better developed reader. Here are some facts for you from Allina Hospitals and Clinics:

1. An average of 2 minutes of reading or talking to a child will result in a vocabulary of fewer than 4,000 words. 
2. An average of 1 hour of reading or talking to a child will result in a vocabulary of 8,000 to 10,000 words. 
3. An average of more than 1 hour of reading or talking to a child will result in a vocabulary of more than 10,000 words. 
4. By Kindergarten, children need to know more than 10,000 words to become successful reader. 

So talking and reading to your child is a good thing! It gives a child that bonding time they need for emotional support and also helps in education! It may not seem like a baby really understand what you are saying, but the whole process is a way for the child to develop an understanding of different sounds and syllables that are needed in language development. 

But reading and talking to your kids should just not be at the baby stage either. Reading is a life long skill that needs to be practiced. I'm pretty sure if my mother didn't give me that time to read with me I wouldn't want to read as much as I do now. And really, it doesn't just have to be written stories. Oral stories are a form of practice to children. It invites them into a different realm, one of creativity and exploration. 

And since I like this song I shall post it! I put the clean version just in case. 

P.S.- Some viewers may find the video offensive. I would like to note the images depicted in the video do not reflect any ideas I have. Only the fact that you should, "read a book."