More parents urged to read aloud with kids

25 Sep 2008

Parents have been encouraged to get into the habit of reading to their children, despite the fast pace and stresses of modern life.

Child psychologist Dr Richard Woolfson said: "Storytelling is a very important activity between parent and child because it fires the child's imagination, it gets them thinking and it gets the parent and child involved together.

"It's important for bedtime because it can help a child settle and relax and so on so they can get a good night's sleep."

According to the National Literacy Trust, reading to children not only builds stronger relationships but is also considered to be the most important thing you can do to help your child succeed.

Books contain new words that help develop a child's language and understanding.

However, the Book Trust claims that daily reading to children is diminishing as pressures on parents increase.

Figures show that 23 per cent of parents never or rarely read aloud with their children. For those who do, just one third of parents read with their offspring on a daily basis.

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