The power of bedtime stories

Bedtime stories have long strengthened parent-child bonds and help your child unwind after a busy day. However, researchers have also linked other powers to this nighttime routine. They claim that while you and your child are sailing with The Snail and the Whale or sampling green eggs with Sam, you are actually enhancing your child’s brain development.

These advantages range from increased thinking skills to decreased stress. But probably the most significant benefit identified in recent years is how bedtime stories might rewire children’s brains in order to speed up their language acquisition.

“There is a clear indication of a neurological difference between children who have been regularly read to and those who have not,” says Reid Lyon, child development and behaviour specialist. The good news is that these disparities do not have to be permanent. 

Brain Activity

Yale University researchers have shown that the language processing regions of the brains of children deemed to be poor readers are relatively inactive. After spending one to two hours per day for eight weeks reading to the poor readers and engaging in other literacy exercises with them, the poor readers’ brain activity resembled that of the good readers.

Here’s how it works: 

When you read your child classic bedtime stories and exaggerate sounds, you stimulate connections in the region of their brain that processes language sounds (the auditory cortex).

There are 44 phonemes in the English language, spanning from ee to ss. The more often a baby hears certain sounds, the quicker they are able to process them. Then, when toddlers are trying to learn a language, they’ll be able to tell the difference between words like tall and doll. They’ll be better at sounding out unfamiliar words and quicker at learning to read.

Creating an inner dictionary

Parents can use storytime as a stepping stone for conversation to improve their child’s language skills even further, according to Lise Eliot, a professor of neuroscience and author of What’s Going On in There? How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life.

For example, if a mother points to Curious George’s baseball cap and asks her child, “Do you have a hat like that?” she is providing him with practise in using language correctly.

Reading with a child will eventually expand her vocabulary more than simply talking with her will. This is because books can introduce children to ideas and objects, such as porridge or kangaroos, that are not present in their immediate environment and thus are not part of their daily conversation. Look for stories with particularly rich or colourful language.

Virginia Walter, an associate professor in education and information studies, says children don’t catch everything the first time they hear a book. But as they listen to it over and over, they begin to notice patterns and sequences, realising that if one page says, “Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see?” the next page will tell the brown bear’s response: “I see a red bird looking at me.”

They will also learn to anticipate future events based on prior information (“Oh, no! The wolf is planning to blow up the home!”). These lessons in recognising patterns, comprehending sequences, and forecasting results can benefit youngsters in other disciplines, including mathematics, science, music, and writing. And reading aloud need not cease after children can read independently; in fact, this is when they build comprehension abilities.

Experts recommend that parents continue the tradition even into their children’s tweens. By selecting books slightly above your child’s skill level, you will continue exposing them to new words to add to their vocabulary. 

Reading and stress-relief

Although there have been no scientific studies on the effects of bedtime stories on children with high cortisol levels, neuroscientists believe that a child can be comforted by a parent reading a familiar book while cuddling up close, thereby reducing a child’s cortisol levels and allowing them to unwind. To increase the calming effect of storytime in your home, cuddle up with your child in a cosy spot with their favourite blanket or stuffed animal.