How many times do you grab a good book, pull your child or children into your lap or snuggle on the couch and read to them? So many of us are guilty of never finding the time, when reading is such an important skill for children to learn. We as parents have the greatest influence over whether or not they begin to learn or choose to learn to read. We can encourage them to learn to read by making books and reading an important part of their life from day one.
"Reading aloud with children is known to be the single most important activity for building the knowledge and skills they will eventually require for learning to read." — Marilyn Jager Adams

Reading offers so many valuable things to children. Here are just a few:

1. Reading is entertaining. Do you think they always had cable television wired to most every house in America, well of course not? Great literature was a popular concept many years ago, much more so than it is today and reading was a favorite past time of almost everyone. Why not make that the case for your child by starting them out reading at an early age and continuing to encourage them to read over the span of their childhood.

2. Reading encourages learning. Reading to your child encourages them to want to learn and gives them the opportunity to have their curiosity stirred by new ideas and concepts, such as how people live differently in different places, how things are made, or where things came from. We can use reading to teach about cultures, traditions and the similarities we all share. So many questions can be formed in the mind of a child as you read to them, thus encouraging them to dig in and find out more!

3. Reading increases your child’s vocabulary. If you want to ensure that your child begins to talk at the right age, learns to say your name, the names of their family members and even things out in the world, you can help them to do so by reading to them. Reading to a child begins teaching them and exposing them to a wide vocabulary, even as a baby. Many doctors encourage women to even read to their babies while they are still in their womb.

4. Reading gives your child knowledge. Knowledge about the world, people, themselves, everything you can think of. Thousands of ideas, topics, themes and concepts can be found in written form in books, on billboards, or even on the side of your morning cereal box. Knowledge is all around us and we consume it by reading it. Encouraging your child to read allows them to soak up all this knowledge.  Lisa Smith