It has never been a secret that reading is important for the development of children and their minds. Instilling a love of books and reading at a young age can set a child up for a lifetime of literacy and knowledge. They will grow to continue to read, and then read to their children when they are grown. It creates a ripple effect of love for the written word. However, we are now starting to realize that it makes a difference on who reads books to their children.

Mother’s everywhere read books to their kids, and we know that this can promote brain development and imagination, it can help them develop their language skills and emotion and it can help strengthen relationships, according to Raising Children. This can all go a step further when we encourage dad to read to their children.

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Language Development May Be Better

It turns out that father’s may help their child develop their language faster than mother’s can by reading to them. According to First Five Years, a study was done with over 405 two-parent families and found that when dad is the one who does the reading, the children had better language development by the age of four.

What this told the specialists is that fathers have their own unique contributions when it comes to reading to their children and that there is more to reading than just saying the words. That the thought of ‘it doesn’t matter who does the reading, as long as there is reading’ is not entirely accurate. While this doesn’t take away the importance of a mother reading to her child, but it does highlight the need for a father’s involvement.

The Interaction Is Just Different

According to Psychology Today, when fathers read to their children, they interact differently than their mother’s. Not better or worse, just different. Studies that were done have shown that when mother’s read stories to their children, they tend to focus more on the content of the book they are reading. When fathers read to their children, they are more likely to bring external topics into the story.

Both of these concepts are important for a child’s development, and they need both to grow as a whole, and that is why there is such importance placed on a father’s involvement when reading to children. Fathers tend to ask more questions while reading the story that may spark a child’s imagination.

Parental Equality

The world has come a long way in making sure each parent is seen as equal, though there is still a long way to go. Mothers and women in general (think elementary school teachers) are primarily the ones people think of when they think of who is reading the children stories. This can lead children to believe that reading is a “female activity.” Having a male role model be the one to read stories and show that reading is cool can help to inspire young boys to read more.

There Are Benefits For Dad Too

Having a father read to their child has benefits on his mental health as well. Fathers have said that reading to their children before bed has helped them feel emotionally closer to their children. This was especially true if dad was away at work all day. This activity was a moment for everything to just stop and dad could sit with his child and share in a bonding moment. This in turn helps the child feel connected to their father and it can only build that relationship.

It is also important to note that when it comes to reading with your children, it doesn’t really matter what you read. It doesn’t just have to be those happy-end fairy tales. Fathers can teach their children that there is value in reading everything they can get their hands on. This could be anything from the newspaper, an instruction manual or even ingredients on the side of a box.

Every form of reading is an opportunity for growth and learning and they will all help build dads relationship with the child and help the child to group seeking the written word and all the information it possesses.

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Sources: Psychology Today, First Five Years, Raising Children