Here's How You Should Read To Your Child

Bedtime stories are an integral part of childhood. We all remember the precious stories and fairytales read to us by our parents and grandparents. Storytelling plays a very important role in cognitive development. Researchers have supported this with studies which suggest that these stories are not just tools to induce sleep but reading to your children and actively engaging with them while doing so, gives your child's brain a cognitive boost.

The study was conducted by John Hutton, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Centre, US. According to him "The takeaway for parents in this study is that they should engage more when reading with their child ask questions, have them turn the page, and interact with each other".

One important thing to understand is that simply reading out words of the story is not enough, using interactive techniques like "dialogic reading" to reinforce the value of the story and where the child is encouraged to actively participate according to the PLOS ONE journal. "In turn, this could fuel brain activation or 'turbocharge' the development of literacy skills, particularly comprehension, in preschool-aged children," Hutton said

According to the study which was conducted by observing the MRI scans of 22 four-year old girls to analyze the link between engagement and verbal interactivity during a mother child reading session the resultant was seen in the Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) which found that there was significantly greater brain activation in four-year-old children who were more highly engaged during story listening, suggesting a novel improvement mechanism of engagement and understanding.

According to Hutton parents should make an effort to prevent any form of distractions during the reading session, like using their phones which was the most common preventable distractive barrier observed. Children who exhibited greater interest in the narrative showed increased activation in right-sided cerebellar areas of the brain, thought to support cognitive skill acquisition and refinement via connection to language, association and executive function areas.

What are the benefits of reading to your child?

1. Reading together builds strong family relationships and everlasting bonds. By cuddling up together with a good book, you teach your child that reading is fun not just for them but for adults too.

2. Reading out stories to your children also increases their chances of becoming avid readers when they grow up. This further helps the child to gain a broader perspective, enhance their vocabulary and boost their self esteem and help transform them into confident adults.

3. Books are a great way to teach children how to handle new experiences and stressful situations. Stories can help children understand, talk about and deal with everything from starting a new school to the loss of a dear one.

4. Reading exercises the brain, improves concentration and teaches children about the world around them. It builds their vocabulary and language skills.
 
5. Reading develops a child's imagination and helps them develop empathy.

(With inputs from ANI)