The Power of Reading

Since most of you aren't parents yet, I just want to do a READ TO YOUR CHILDREN OFTEN blog. I know you've heard it many, many times before, but I just want to share my own example of how this has worked to improve the vocabulary/communication levels of my children.

My daughter, Lily, recently turned four. She has always excelled in language skills (she was able to speak in complete sentences of up to six words, in perfect or nearly perfect syntax by the age of 21 months), so her vocabulary has always been above average. But I have also been reading to her, since she was literally a newborn. She was my first child and when she was first born, I didn't even go to school. Most of the time, it was just Lily and I, at home all day, while her dad was at work. I liked interacting and talking with her, but really, there's only so much you can say to a one-month-old. So I'd just open up a book and read. She got to hear a ton of words, and I didn't have to sit and think of what to say to her that wasn't just akin to, "Ohhhh, aren't you a CUTE baby?!"

As she's gotten older, I've heard her use rather large vocabulary words in her everyday speech. For example (and this was already several months ago now), she told me, "Mommy, owls stay awake during the day and sleep at night, so that means they're nocturnal." She has a book about creatures of the desert in which, in one segment, nocturnal creatures are discussed. Also, her favorite series, Fancy Nancy (seriously, remember this guys, they are GREAT books), has the main character, Nancy, always using "fancy" words and then she tells you what they mean. And it really works! Lily was really excited and happy, so she said, "Mommy, I'm just ecstatic to go to the play-place at the mall!" This was a word she learned directly from those books. I think this has also translated to the way she picks up words from conversation or movies. Just the other day she said, "Mommy, do you remember--Mommy, do you recall...?" I asked where she learned the word "recall" and she said, "Oh, it's from a Pooh movie. Tigger says..." and she proceeded to quote the movie. I'm not sure she would be quite so adept at learning new vocabulary from context if I didn't read to her so much.

My son, Danny, on the other hand, hasn't gotten quite the same attention as Lily. Admittedly, I didn't read as much to him when he was a baby, and I don't read as much as I used to do to either of them. With Lily, I was just with her. With Danny, I already had one child demanding attention, and then I returned to school full-time. So he's really gotten the short end of the stick, but I still really try to read to both children every, single day. Danny, now 21 months, still doesn't say much of anything, not even 2 word phrases yet. I noticed, however, that what gets him trying to say new words more than anything else is when we find a book he LOVES (specifically, at this age, RHYMING books), he wants to finish the sentences. I will pause and allow him to, loudly and excitedly, say the last word of the sentence. And, somehow, it seems his excitement at saying those words has carried over into regular speech, and he will finally try to say words when I ask him to. Before, he just didn't have interest.

I realize this was a super long post, telling you something you should already know. But I think it's something we often take for granted. I just wanted to share examples from my children's lives of the real power of reading.