Reading bedtime stories to my children is one of my very favourite things about parenting.
Snuggled down together every evening, in the big bed, we have read thousands of books over the years, from Dr Seuss to Harry Potter – as well as so, so many different tales and stories in between.
When I was little, my parents would read to my sister and me every night, and when I had my own children, I knew this was a tradition I wanted to carry on. It feels like the perfect way to end our day – and I don’t plan on stopping, even though my daughter is now well able to read her own bedtime stories.
And did you know reading books and stories to our children actually has all sorts of benefits for them too? According to a new study, children whose parents read them five books a day go into kindergarten (primary school) having heard about 1.4 million more words than kids who were never read to?
In fact, Ohio State University says this “million-word gap” could be key in explaining differences in vocabulary and reading development.
The study happened because researchers were interested in finding out what difference being read to really makes. Previous research has revealed that 25 percent of children are never read to, and another 25 percent are only read to on rare occasions.
And what they found was proof that daily storytime is, indeed, incredibly beneficial for children. In fact – even kids who are read-only one book a day will still hear about 290,000 more words by the time they are 5 years old than those who aren’t read to at home.
“Kids who hear more vocabulary words are going to be better prepared to see those words in print when they enter school,” Jessica Logan, lead study author said .
“They are likely to pick up reading skills more quickly and easily.”
The researchers collaborated with the Columbus Metropolitan Library, which identified the 100 most circulated books for both board books, which target infants and toddlers, and picture books, which are meant for preschoolers. They randomly selected 30 books from both lists and counted how many words were in each book. They found that board books contained about 140 words, and picture books contained an average of 228 words. They then calculated how many words a child would hear from birth through 5 years old at the different levels of reading. Based on those calculations, here’s how many words they say kids would hear by the time they turn 5:
- Never read to: 4,662 words
- Read to 1 to 2 times a week: 63,570 words
- Read to 3 to 5 times a week: 169,520 words
- Read to daily: 296,660 words
- Read 5 books a day: 1,483,300 words
“The word gap of more than 1 million words between children raised in a literacy-rich environment and those who were never read to is striking,” Logan said.
Plus, it’s not just the words kids hear during storytime. Parents usually talk to their kids about the book they’re reading, or add their own details to the story. This added talk reinforces new vocabulary words and may introduce even more words.
