Why read at night?

I love reading to my son. My husband and I take turns depending on who has finished dinner first but bedtime reading is something neither of us skip.

What’s not to love about it? It fosters a bond like no other. It makes us talk about things we haven’t had time to speak about all day and -this is my favourite part- I subtly sneak in some “values” and tips on “good behavior” during these intimate times.

Enough research has been done on the effects of reading and especially bedtime reading. Most agree that reading is the best exercise for the brain that you can do. It stimulates oral skills and reaffirms certain phrases that are used in common speech. For example: While reading Margaret Wise’s bedtime classic Goodnight Moon, by exaggerating the “oo” sound in ‘moon’ and drawing out the word ‘hush’, you are stimulating connections in the auditory cortex- a part of her brain that handles language sounds."

Reference: http://www.parents.com/fun/entertainment/books/the-brainy-benefits-of-bedtime-stories/

I find bedtime reading the best way to de-stress from the day. Sometimes while reading, my son tells me what happened at school or at home while I was away, sometimes he asks me totally random questions like how an air-conditioner works or what humidity is! The trick is, to answer his questions as best as I can and bring his attention back to the book.

We snuggle under our blankets, pick a book from his vast home library and read. I’m guilty of not giving in to his “once more” requests all the time. But that changed when I read: “The first time children hear a book, they don't catch everything, says Virginia Walter, Ph.D., associate professor in the graduate school of education and information studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. But as they hear it again and again, they start to notice patterns and sequences, realising that if one page says, "Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see?" the next page will tell brown bear's response: "I see a red bird looking at me."

Reference: http://www.parents.com/fun/entertainment/books/the-brainy-benefits-of-bedtime-stories/

My son loves Dr Seuss. His all-time favourite book to make him laugh out loud is ‘Fox in Socks’, ‘Green Eggs and Ham’, 'There’s a Wocket in My Pocket', 'Oh the Places You’ll Go' and 'Horton Hears a Who!'. There is something about the tongue-twisters that gets his 3.5-year-old mind very excited. 

For a more comprehensive list on bed time stories, visit: http://www.parents.com/fun/entertainment/books/the-brainy-benefits-of-bedtime-stories/

(The author is a journalist turned entrepreneur and Mum to an adorable little boy)