When I was a kid, I disliked eating homemade yogurt, but as a family rule, we kids were to eat a bowl of yogurt with our meals. During those ‘challenging’ childhood moments, storytime came to my rescue.
My mom would feed me this bowl of yogurt while engaging me in stories. Her story would start with the first spoon of yogurt and would end with the last spoon, most of the time ending abruptly, leaving me hanging.
Despite those stories being random and their endings inconclusive to my young mind, I still looked forward to listening to them. It was more about bonding with my mom than the story’s logic that kept me engrossed.
Coming from that background, I surrounded my kids with books and read them aloud. We had books everywhere: our bathtime, feeding time, car drives, and walks. Though I did not quite engage in unscripted oral storytelling like my mom, which was a lot more creative and spun my childhood imagination, I read books to them. A lot of books. Thanks to the US public library system, I could check out tons of books for my then-little kids. Now that my children enjoy reading on their own and our much faster readers than I am, our bedtime reading has transitioned into intimate time to talk about the day and offer our gratitude before saying ‘good night.’
The scientific benefits of reading aloud are beautifully documented in the book, The Enchanted Hour: The Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud in the Age of Distraction by Meghan Cox Gurdon.
Though gadgets have benefits, it is perfectly alright to put them aside to connect with the kids. Now that I write for children, I read my books to them. Reading books helps children make a connection, be more empathetic and become more curious about the world around them.
As an advocate for reading books to kids, I’ll participate in World Read Aloud Day. It is held annually on the first Wednesday of February. In 2023 it is on February 1st. On this day, authors and illustrators around the globe offer free virtual reading for classrooms and libraries. Here’s my sign-up link for the schools and teachers to reserve a spot for that day.
And if you want, you can order my picture books from wherever you buy books, in-store or online. My website has more information: https://harshitajerath.com/?page_id=14.
Your blog post is so nostalgic and enjoyable read. I started off making stories while feeding sadhika, but as grew older she started to find mine boring:). So now I read her from books. Of course I cannot finish the story within the span of her meal, but Sadhika can’t leave the story so she tries very hard and finishes it herself! It feels so nice, because then she’d come and tell me the rest of the story. 🙂
That’s fantastic! You’re raising a reader and setting her up for a stronger vocabulary and deeper comprehension power. Most importantly a super habit for reading. Great job!