Today is National Read Across America Day. In honor of the holiday, we’re exploring the benefits of reading aloud to your child + why it’s important to carve out quality time with your kid while enhancing their academic mind.

Here are 5 benefits of reading with your child:

1. When reading aloud to your kids, you may come across a word they may not understand. There’s an opportunity to build vocabulary by stopping to talk about what the word means.

2. Reading aloud to kids can also help with language and speech development, and not just for young children – it also helps older kids understand correct sentence structure + grammar.

3. Listening and reading to stories allows children to imagine their own creative stories using plot + character, helping them build better imaginations.

4. It can also help to increase attention spans since children practice being still + using listening skills when being read to.

5. It often provides for good discussion and teachable moments.

Pro-tip for busy parents: If you’re on the run a lot and don’t want to miss out on reading time, keep books in the car to read if you are waiting in the carpool line.

Wondering which book to start with? Here are 8 must-read children’s books recommended by the faculty at Lakeland Christian School:

📚 “Love You Forever” by Robert Munsch + Sheila McGraw | recommended by Luci O’Byrne, Elementary Principal

📚 “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak | recommended by Carlos Martinez, 5th Grade Teacher

📚 “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” “The Very Busy Spider,” and “The Lonely Firefly” by Eric Carle | recommended by Missy Green, K4 Teacher

📚 “Are You My Mother?” by P.D. Eastman or “The Chronicles of Narnia” by C.S. Lewis | recommended by Sandy Nilius, K4 Teacher

📚 “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” by Judith Viorst + Ray Cruz | recommended by Sandy Johnson, Director of Marketing + Communications Ⓟ