How to read a bedtime story

Why reading with kids is important?

Reading is playing important role in our life.

1. Reading increases cognitive development. It exercises the brain with cognitive exercises and helps to develop it in different areas.

2. Enhances imagination: during reading you train imagination and drive creativity.

3. Expand vocabulary. Reading new words and how to apply them in conversation.

4. Improve writing skills. Reading indirectly teaches how to build a narration, plot, pacing, characters, etc. Unreasonably it creates a skill to write.

There are some others like stress reduction, improved concentration and a lot more. In a modern world of gadgets and screens, it is essentially important to have a mental rest of everything and reload your brain with reading.

How to read with kids before sleep?

Tricks and tips strongly depend on the age of your child or children. With smaller ones (aged 2-4) the main goal is to inspire and interest, which will grow with time and become a part of a future life. With older ones (aged 5+) it makes sense to focus on different aspects of reading, like learning letters and words, understanding characters' motivation or moral problems that the story raises, for example.

Here are some general recommendations that can help you to make reading more interesting and useful for your kids:

1. Let your kids choose the story

Your child/children must be interested in the story. Reading materials of their own choice gives kids a better understanding since they are interested and invested in the content. You always can give your recommendations, for example, to read something connected to events, which happened today. This will help to have a discussion tied to real life.

2. Have a children's library to choose from

It's not always possible, but still, it's much better if there is a choice. This helps to fit a mood and atmosphere. For example nice to have a few stories about Halloween, Christmas, Easter, sad, happy, etc. You can register your kid in the local library, which is usually free for childrden and rotate your books. Going to the library is also a great event because the library has special atmosphere for reading.

3. Keep appropriate image/text rate

Usually, there are illustrations in children's books. Choose books wisely. You have to remember that the smaller your listener - the more illustrations and images the story should have. For example, for the smallest child, it is even more important to see illustrations than listen, to keep interest. But the bigger your listener becomes page can contain fewer images and more text. Narration becomes more important because of stronger imagination - it is enough to head and imagine, and illustration appears in the head. This is something parents usually forget and what is essential for enhancing.

4. Try to interest with personalized stories

If your kids are not fully interested in reading it is sometimes possible to attract them with personalized stories. Special settings and named characters can assosiate it with your child personality. Try to generate a personalized story here.

5. Ask questions during the reading

It makes sense to periodically stop reading and ask your kids some questions. This helps to understand if your children understand the plot or plot and if are they listening at all! The difficulty of questions can vary depending on the age. For smaller it could be the simplest with two answer options to choose from, aiming to learn words. For older questions could be harder. The answer not always must be in the text. For example, it can be a question about character motivation or some unobvious reasoning. This gives some interaction and makes reading interesting.

But be careful with this. Don't push questions too hard. Certainly, help if the child hesitates to answer. And remember that the late evening brain is simply tired and not as sharp as in the morning, for example.

6. Discuss the story together after reading

Have a short discussion afterwards. About characters, their motivations, events, and lessons that this story teaches. This helps kids better understand the narration and learn to analyze and think critically. This is also a good way to spend time together and have fun. You can ask what your child liked or disliked, what he/she would change in the story, what he/she thinks about the characters, etc.

7. Make reading a habit

Bedtime reading has to be an important part of the day, like breakfast or teeth brushing. Bonding time creates a positive association with books and reading. It also grows a habit of reading and creating a sleep routine - a strong signal that this is the time to calm down and get ready for sleep.

Some other advice

- Choose a book which will be interesting to you also. If it is possible to choose such a book that will be interesting for both of you - it is a perfect fit.

- You can change your reading voice. Each character can have a different special voice. This gives them personality. Read with expression. Tone your voice according to the events and mood of the narration. Declare happy events louder and worse with a calm anxious voice.

- Don't be afraid to improvise. You can add some details or change the story a bit. This makes reading more interesting and interactive.

- Don't be afraid to stop reading if your child is not interested. You can always continue later or change the book.

- Don't be afraid to read the same story again and again. It is a good way to learn new words and understand the plot better.

To summarize

Following this simple advice will help to grow an interest in reading with your kids. Remember to enjoy this time because it will end very soon since your kids will start reading themselves. you definitely will miss this.