Bring back the Bedtime Story! Fewer and fewer parents today are telling their children bedtime stories, and children are being deprived of a wonderful opportunity for emotional and linguistic nurturing.
Children’s brains are hard-wired for narrative, an incredibly powerful tool to enable children to organise and make sense of the world.
A story at bedtime feeds the imagination, develops abstract though and fosters a love of books, words and story-writing.
Have a Bedtime Story Month, with families contributing favourite stories from all over the world, to include stories from today and remembered tales from parents’ and grandparents’ childhoods. Publish the stories in book format, with children’s illustrations, sell the books and raise money for charity.
Absolutely right! It’s such a shame that this custom seems to be diminishing in families.
Nothing can create the joy of reading more than sharing a story in a warm and loving environment.
Thank you, Hilery. Yes, a story at bedtime is so simple yet so powerful. Have just blogged about reading a bedtime story in a garden.