20 Minutes a Day

Now that school has started (Yahoo!!) I have really been encouraging my kids to read at least 20 minutes a day. Kaylee's teacher gave me a great article about the benefits our kids receive from reading 20 minutes a day. Yes, I know that this is not a story for Saturday's Story...sorry, but I hope to encourage us all to find 20 minutes to read to our kids or with our kids...so pull out some of your kid's favorite stories and READ!

Here is an excerpt from that article-20 Minutes Every Day by Phillip Chipping:

"Did you know that the single-most important thing you can do for your children is to read to them (and with them) for twenty minutes, every day? That's a bold statement, but as I've been researching the topic, I have found amazing statistics and research that convince me it is true.

Consider just a few of the benefits, especially when you start your children at an early age.

Listening skills are built; children learn to sit still and focus; comprehension and understanding of events (cause and effect relationships) is enhanced; vocabulary is increased as children discover new words; a child's ability to guess meaning of new words grows; children become more confident because they know they are cared for and loved, and because they can express their thoughts and needs; imagination and creativity are encouraged and fed; children are better-enabled to make friends and good relationships because their communication skills are increased; learning in all subjects becomes much easier because the brain is literally being wired to learn and take in new information; and family bonds are strengthened and reinforced, creating an atmosphere of love, trust and communication in the home (which you will be very grateful for when you kids are teenagers!)

If you stop to think about it, it's pretty obvious that all those things would come as a result of reading with your children every day. Wat I failed to realize, though, was the sum-total of adding all those pieces together. What is that sum-total? A child who is better-prepared for the world. A child who will excel in almost anything he chooses to do. A child who will earn more in her profession because she read more when she was young and still enjoys reading today.

If you want your child to succeed in life, both socially and economically, commit to giving your children twenty minutes of undivided attention, every day. By reading to your children every day, you empower them with the tools, skills and confidence to not only succeed in life, but to enjoy life."