You’ve heard it before, that reading to your child is beneficial — helps their language skills and intellectual development. But did you know that only now there is empirical evidence to show that our notions of it’s benefits are indeed REALLY true?

A psychology professor at University of Kansas, John Colombo, recently published his findings in the Journal of Research in Higher Education. His research shows that children that had more book reading sessions (whether it was by the mother, father, grandparents etc…), had higher vocabulary. Here is what Colombo says, “It was a stronger effect for expressive vocabulary than it was for receptive vocabulary.” Expressive vocabulary refers to words that a child speaks, while receptive vocabulary refers to the words he understands.

Besides the number of book reading sessions, another important factor that was noted to help in vocabulary building was the variety of books that was being read. In other words, it helps to read different book titles throughout the week.

If you want to know more, here is the article source: KU Researcher Sheds Light on Benefits of Book Reading for Children

Although I do not need this sort of scientific evidence to convince me of the benefits of reading to my children, it’s good to know FOR SURE what it can do. Many times children will come across words in books that we may not use during our daily conversations. And definitely it helps for us to read to them because if they were to read it on their own, they may not get as much out of the book. As we read to them, they will also learn how to pronounce the words e.g. which syllable is emphasized. I remember during a geography lesson in school, how my teacher taught us how to pronouce Saskatchewan and Greenwich the right way. Also, there are certain words that I’ve learned to pronounce just because I’ve heard someone say it before. For example, the word “lingerie” and “rendezvous”.

Well, now that we have scientific evidence, let’s double those reading sessions and pile up the books. Heheheh.