As parents, we know we’re supposed<\/em> to read aloud to our kids because it’s good for their growing little brains<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But sometimes<\/strong> reading aloud to a 2-year-old makes you question whether it’s actually doing any good<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They can’t seem to sit still and focus, they want to turn the pages before you’re done reading them, and they toddle off halfway through the book. Hey! Don’t you want to know what happens to the bowl full of mush?!?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And yet, it’s important<\/strong> to keep trying because the relationship our children have with books and reading when they’re young directly<\/em> impacts how much they’ll love to read when they’re older. According to the research on raising readers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The more you read, the better you get at it; the better you get at it, the more you like it; and the more you like it, the more you do it.”<\/p>\nJim Trelease, The Read-Aloud Handbook<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n But it’s not just about fostering a love of reading. Looking ahead to when our kids are older, reading is essential for the learning process, and kids who struggle with reading tend to struggle in school:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Children who aren’t reading proficiently by fourth grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school, and…only 34 percent of America’s fourth graders read at grade level.”<\/p>\nThe New York Times<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
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