Reading frequency

[RedPressST]

How often do/did you read to your little ones? Once or twice a month? Most nights? When they ask? For two minutes? Ten? Thirty?

 

 

I remember being read to, and I read to my (much younger) brother when he was a toddler. I read to him for 5-20 minutes a few days a week, more or less.

 

My wife's family does not as often read to toddlers. Maybe few times a month, usually when they won't sleep but need to settle down for bed.

 

I'm not sure which is more common, more or less? My wife and I house our nephews most weekends, Friday through Sunday and sometimes more. I've established a "bath, books, bed" routine when I put them to bed, and my wife has a "bath, talk (about today and tomorrow), bed" routine when she puts them to bed.

[MrDuck]

As a kid I can't remember anyone ever reading to me, I guess my mum probably did when she was alive but I was too young to remember. As a kid I couldn't really read until I was 10! That was tough, really tough, there's so much you miss, and its hard to hide but if you don't people think your dumb.

 

I didn't want to make the same mistakes with my son, (different ones maybe ) I want to give him the very best chance in life so I read to him every day at bedtime...

When he was first born, I didn't own any kids books so I used to read to him out of my Spanish-English phrase book (Tbf he's great with languages, he can already speak some Spanish, Zulu & Italian, though I don't think I can take credit for that, haha)!

Now he's 7 I read story books most nights to him, and one of my brother tends to read the free paper with him at breakfast time.

[SammySammy]

My mother read to me almost every day. Even when she would be exhausted from work, she would take time to read to me. As a result, I learned to read at 3.5 years old and developed a lifelong love for books and learning.

[basil67]

We read to our kids every night as part of their bed time routine. As they got older, they'd snuggle in together and read to each other.

 

On the topic of reading, I will also throw out there that I refused homework when the kids were in grades K-5

[SunnyWeather]

I forgot about this, but my mom used to read to me too when I was little. I reckon that must be the sweetest memory I have of her...

 

I don't know if there's a correlation or not OP, but I too went on to become quite bookish, even more so later in life.

[basil67]

I forgot about this, but my mom used to read to me too when I was little. I reckon that must be the sweetest memory I have of her...

 

I don't know if there's a correlation or not OP, but I too went on to become quite bookish, even more so later in life.

 

I'd be interested to know if there's a correlation - all bookish people here too.

 

I've heard that there are strong links between literacy and access to books and being read to as children. I'm sure it's true.

[SunnyWeather]

I'd be interested to know if there's a correlation - all bookish people here too.

 

I've heard that there are strong links between literacy and access to books and being read to as children. I'm sure it's true.

 

spending time at the library as a young child is another favorable memory. I think it really shaped my love for books and all the possibilities living within their covers.

[basil67]

spending time at the library as a young child is another favorable memory. I think it really shaped my love for books and all the possibilities living within their covers.

 

Yes, me too. I used to go with dad on a very regular basis.

[GemmaUK]

When I was very tiny Mum would read to me but she taught me to read and write by the time I was 3 years old so I would usually read to her by then.

My Dad used to take me to our local library once a week and there was a fantastic kids room there. I always picked out too many books as I would get over excited! Lol!

 

We had a couple of big bookshelves stuffed with all kinds of books - mostly grown up books, many of which I had picked out and read by the time I was about 13.

Plus my geeky confession, I read my whole way through our set of 12 encyclopedias by age 9!

 

I have loved books and learning ever since.

[Gemma1]

My grandmother and dad read to me literally for hours most nights when I was a kid. My son is 14 months and he is obsessed with books. He pulls them off the shelves and drags them over to us (some of his cardboard books are heavy) and plops down in our laps so we can read to him. He does this at least 5 times a day or more.

[whichwayisup]

How often do/did you read to your little ones? Once or twice a month? Most nights? When they ask? For two minutes? Ten? Thirty?

 

 

I remember being read to, and I read to my (much younger) brother when he was a toddler. I read to him for 5-20 minutes a few days a week, more or less.

 

My wife's family does not as often read to toddlers. Maybe few times a month, usually when they won't sleep but need to settle down for bed.

 

I'm not sure which is more common, more or less? My wife and I house our nephews most weekends, Friday through Sunday and sometimes more. I've established a "bath, books, bed" routine when I put them to bed, and my wife has a "bath, talk (about today and tomorrow), bed" routine when she puts them to bed.

 

Growing up as a kid, having my parents (usually my dad) read to us every night before bed. It was part of the routine - Bath, snack, brush teeth, reading a book and then bedtime. Any time my nieces and nephews slept over here at my house I would read to them before bed or make up fun stories.

 

I think if kids love to hear books read to them, they will enjoy reading books as they get older. No harm in it at all, plus it helps them relax and allow their minds to just focus on the book and get sleepy.

[RedPressST]

Thanks for all the responses!

 

I agree that there's strong evidence for book-loving adults having been read to as little ones. I've seen a few articles linking reading to children and higher empathy levels through grade school and adulthood.