Something All Co-Parents Can Agree On: Read Daily to Young Kids
A new study from The Ohio State University found that young children whose parents read them five books per day enter kindergarten having heard about 1.4 million more words than kids who were never read to. They're likely to be more prepared to start school, and to pick up reading skills more quickly and easily.
The study further found that even kids who are read only one book per day will hear about 290,000 more words by age five than those who don’t regularly read books with a parent or caregiver.
An interesting point in the study: it's not just about everyday words. The words kids hear in books are more complex and deal with topics that don't necessarily come up in every day conversation - for example, books about exotic animals or distant geographical locations.
What does this mean for co-parenting? Something as simple as daily reading should be an easy point of agreement between co-parents. Books are easily accessible at the public library and are often grouped or rated by age-appropriateness. For babies, there are books for all sorts of purposes: squishing, lifting, and playing or sounds and word play.
If co-parents can agree to commit to daily reading during their respective parenting times, they are certainly doing their part to foster stability and routine for the child, and to set the child up for academic success.
Tip: For book ideas for your little ones, check out this article from Parenting.com: Building Baby's First Library: 25 Must-Have Books.
Tip: With 72 branches across Los Angeles, The Los Angeles Public Library is a great resource for books, family events, and more. Built in 1926, the Central Library in Downtown LA is an architectural treasure -- listed in the National Register of Historic Places and a designated Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument. By the way, they have a great children's department.
Happy Reading!
The Law Office of Emily E. Rubenstein is a full-service divorce and family law firm. We proudly serve Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Culver City, the South Bay, Glendale, Pasadena, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Encino and all of Los Angeles County.
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Emily Rubenstein, Esq.
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