How long is bedtime stories

But as they hear it again and again, they start to notice patterns and sequences, realizing that if one page says, "Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see? They'll also learn to predict what will happen next based on their prior knowledge "Uh oh! The wolf wants to blow the house down! Later, these lessons in recognizing patterns, understanding sequences, and predicting outcomes will help children in other areas, from math and science to music and writing. And reading aloud doesn't need to stop once kids can read on their own; in fact, that's when they develop reading comprehension skills, Dr.

Walter says. To practice, ask a child what she thinks will happen next or how she would end a story differently. Experts suggest that parents continue the tradition even into the teenage years. By choosing books that are slightly above a teen's skill level, you'll continue to expose her to new words to add to her vocabulary. What's more, reading aloud can provide fodder for family conversation.

Walter explains. To best confer reading's cognitive benefits, a child's experiences with books should be enjoyable, says Peter Gorski, M. When kids are cozy and comfortable, reading aloud to them can even lower their stress levels. When a child experiences any strain—such as being bullied or starting a new school—his brain tries to protect him by producing the hormone cortisol, which activates the body's "fight or flight" response.

In small doses, cortisol can actually help kids handle normal stress. In larger amounts, however, it can block learning. While there have been no scientific studies on how bedtime stories affect children with spiked cortisol levels, neuroscientists say it stands to reason that being read a familiar book while snuggling close to a parent can comfort a child, thus lowering his cortisol levels to help him concentrate better.

To enhance the calming nature of storytime at your house, cuddle up with your child in a comfortable place, with his favorite blankets and stuffed animals nearby.

Gorski says. These stories stand out for meeting both the language and emotional needs of their target age group, according to the Quicklist Consulting Committee, a subset of the American Library Association in Chicago. The Brainy Benefits of Bedtime Stories. Detective books are valued for their reward of vigilance. We seize on clues, sift the evidence. And none of us knows how it will end. So when is too old for a bedtime story? That will change, of course. But maybe when the bedtime story dies, there will be anytime stories.

Or maybe we will start a family book club. But now that passion for books has moved on to a new level. T enjoys sharing books with his little brother, will often grab a book and read to himself, and loves visiting our local library more on that later. When we started off on this journey, I had no idea that picture books could be so diverse and brilliant! Last year, we read picture books that looked sensitively at refugees, tackled bereavement, discussed loneliness, explored the separation of parents, dealt with our impact on the environment, delved into a variety of emotions, considered the introduction of new siblings, and loads more besides!

And we laughed lots and lots at some imaginative, incredible stories. If you have a lesson you want your child to learn, an event or emotion you want your child to understand, a moral you wish to discuss, or just want something fun to read, you will find a picture book that will do the job brilliantly.

Try our Bookfinder to help you choose your next picture book. Early on in our adventure, we signed T up as a member of our local library. We have now borrowed at least brilliant books and done a lot more besides: from story time to crafts and an Enid Blyton exhibition. As well as the fun of this, it has led to certificates, a free DVD rental and a free swim at our local leisure centre.

On each visit, we also see the impact of our library on other members of the community. Our library does a lot more than lend books! We found this out very early in our adventure, once we read Mighty Small Day 4! Timothy Knapman took the time to respond to our review on Twitter and even added a quote from it to his website. Our excitement at this was an early spur to keep going.

Excitingly, all of this interaction led to me co-founding ukpbchat with emilyanndavison: a monthly Twitter chat about picture books 8pm on the first Thursday of every month. My highlights included an exciting chat with Tom Percival and a chat with one of our favourite picture book teams — Rachel Bright and Jim Field.

Time for some honesty — bedtime with T used to be an absolute nightmare! I was a total stresshead about it and evenings often included shouting and tears. The whole episode of bed would take hours and inevitably lead to T co-sleeping with us, or me or mummy asleep in his room — either on the floor or hanging from the edge of his bed! All of that has gone. Our bedtime routine is well established and, bar the odd occasion, T will be asleep within ten minutes of the end of our story.