Series Part #8: To Help Kids Get Ready for Kindergarten Read and Share Books and Stories
One of the most powerful ways to help kids get ready for kindergarten is to read and share books and stories. Many, many books and stories.
The importance of books is not an exaggeration. In families that read stories to children, did you know that before the kids start school they have already had the benefit of thousands of books? It only takes 3 or 4 stories a day, several times a week to add up to more than a thousand in a year. That keeps piling up to be 5 or 6,000 or more, and gazillions more brain connections and learning. Here’s a picture of that astonishing math!
To use another comparison, if learning to read were a hike up a mountain, children who have been read to at home are starting way far ahead.
Books aren’t just for bedtime but anytime. How does reading help children with getting ready for kindergarten? As we read to kids they:
- hear lots of words,
- practice listening with ears and watching with eyes,
- make pictures in their mind,
- learn new things,
- travel around the world, into space and beyond time,
- and spend one-on-one time with us.
No wonder reading is so powerful as a readiness activity. Once kids get to school, it’s important to continue reading with them even when they can read themselves. For a play-of-the-day today and everyday, can you read a book or tell a story to your child?