Comment by ChuckMcM | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ChuckMcM | Hacker News Reader

I observe that of all the things I did with my kids when they were growing up, reading to them every night has had the most profound impact. Early in their lives they liked being read to because it was 'time with mom' or 'time with dad', later when they were early readers, it was a way to 'be the mom' and read to us. And of course once they became facile readers it took them to places and introduced them to people they would never have met in their day to day lives. To this day I have fond memories of my daughter correcting errors in Egyptian mythology on Star Gate because she had absorbed a giant tome on it in her fascination with the stories.

If you have kids, read to them, if they have heard the story before and are bored ask them what the characters in the story are thinking, if they feel like they know that ask them how the story might go differently based on different outcomes. Get them reading, and thinking about what they are reading, and be tolerant of them sneaking a light under the covers so they can finish a book.

Anecdote is not data.

Here's data:

http://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/about/research/rea...

Key Findings

* Reading to children at age 4-5 every day has a significant positive effect on their reading skills and cognitive skills (i.e., language and literacy, numeracy and cognition) later in life.

* Reading to children 3-5 days per week (compared to 2 or less) has the same effect on the child’s reading skills at age 4-5 as being six months older.

* Reading to them 6-7 days per week has the same effect as being almost 12 months older.

* Children read to more frequently at age 4-5 achieve higher scores on the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests for both Reading and Numeracy in Year 3 (age 8 to 9).

* These differences in reading and cognitive skills are not related to the child’s family background or home environment but are the direct result of how frequently they have been read to prior to starting school.

Thanks for the data. I'll back it up with a personal anecdote: I was at least a grade if not 2-3 grades ahead of my class by the time I got to kindergarten. My parents (and the full-time babysitter) read to me. I had "Goodnight Moon" freaking MEMORIZED from how many times it was read to me; the actual reading came soon after.

I have two sons, 6 and 3, and my wife and I read to them every night. My 6-year old seems a little behind when it comes to reading, at least from what I would expect.

He attends a Montessori kindergarten and scores fine on the reading tests they administer. The school seems to put more emphasis on mathematical concepts at this point and I'm pretty amazed at what he's picked up so far. So overall I'm not too concerned and I think at some point a flip will switch and his reading will pick up.

He definitely enjoys us reading to him, but is pretty reluctant when we ask him to read so we don't push it. He really enjoys non-fiction books (e.g NatGeo books on animals) and things like The Magic (School Bus|Tree House). It's fun to hear him recite facts he's learned. I'm definitely looking forward to getting to some of the books I read as a kid (Chronicles of Narnia, The Great Brain, Encyclopedia Brown).

I wonder whether this is better than talking to children for a similar, blocked off period of time every day.

I can think of reasons it might be better and reasons it might be worse.

Talking is great, but often constrained to the limits we set ourselves (our town, our experiences, our acquaintences) but reading is not bound by our imagination, only by the authors. Helps us step out of our comfort zone.

For sure. On the flip side, talking can be more interactive (which is probably good but maybe it's not), and stretching our own imaginations is worth doing - most people can probably come up with stories with enough creativity to entertain a four-year-old, particularly if the adult has been doing some reading.

But then, of course, building positive associations around books is doubtless valuable in our current society.

Lots of great arguments on both sides. I'm certainly not going to forego reading to my children. I'm just floating a perspective I found interesting.

If I may chime in with my own anecdote:

My Dad reading to me as a kid are the most cherished memories I have. I'll never forget how wonderful it was to sit on the floor with my brothers while my dad settled into hid dads big old rocking chair to read to us.

My dad has always been a busy guy, so it means all the more to look back at my life and realize that my dad set aside 2+ hours a night just to read to me and my brothers for nearly 5 years. This display of consistency and loyalty to his family makes me emotional even now just thinking about it.

Additionally, the books my Dad read really helped me connect with him. He read to us the same books he read as a kid: A Thousand and One Arabian Nights, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, all of Sherlock Holmes, Peter Pan, and many more. Having been exposed to the same media, it helped my brothers and I relate to our dad, and makes our relationship stronger to this day.

Read to your kids. It's an easy "parent-child" activity, and if you start with material that's interesting, you'll both enjoy it.

When friends that are having their first child ask me for advice I always tell them to do the following from day one:

1. Eat dinner together every night.

2. Read to them every night.

This is great to hear, thank you for posting this, and a huge thanks to the other posters who backed this up with data.

One question - how did you choose which books to read to your children?

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