{"id":1372,"date":"2024-01-27T02:20:20","date_gmt":"2024-01-27T02:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/?p=1372"},"modified":"2024-01-14T02:34:50","modified_gmt":"2024-01-14T02:34:50","slug":"the-importance-of-stories-at-bedtime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/the-importance-of-stories-at-bedtime\/","title":{"rendered":"The Importance of Stories at Bedtime"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Parents and teachers intuitively know that children benefit from being read to, but is regular storytime\u00a0<em>really<\/em> that important?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2021\/10\/01\/1041859001\/reading-aloud-benefits-childrens-literacy\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Studies<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have proven that reading to children benefits them immediately and in the future! Children who are read to have:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Better language skills &#8211; Quality literature improves language understanding, grammar, and sentence structure<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Increased vocabulary &#8211; Quality literature exposes children to a wide vocabulary and better understanding of words<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Improved literacy &#8211; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/2158244016672715\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Research shows<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> a strong connection between reading aloud to children and advanced literacy skills.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Emotional bonding with parents &#8211; positive connections are made between a parent and the child during read-aloud<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here&#8217;s how to find time throughout the day to include reading with your child. Be sure to read to the end to learn the best time of day to read to your child!<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reading in the Early Morning<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Every child is different. Some children are sleepy and want to cuddle first thing in the morning. If your child is an early-morning cuddler, then this is an excellent time to read with your child! C<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ozy up with a blanket, some books, and something to drink or eat. This will quickly become one of your favorite parts of the day and cherished memories.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even if your child is jumping off the couch in the early morning, you can still have early morning reading. It can even be an excellent way to teach your child self-regulation. Children want to engage with you and may be willing to snuggle up with you and a good book.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reading in the Mid-Morning\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By mid-morning, babies are ready for their first nap of the day. Taking just a few minutes to read to them before naptime is a signal to them that it\u2019s time to sleep.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Young children may have burned through their breakfast energy and are poking around for something to do or eat. Children need to engage with their parents frequently and often turn to their parents to help them regulate their emotions. If children begin to whine or get mischievous,\u00a0 it can be easy to turn to technology or snacks to get through the morning.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, remember that children want to engage with <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">you<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, not technology. Reading will give them the emotional regulation their bodies are craving and may become less needy for technology or snacks. Often after reading, children are regulated and ready to choose their next activity with cheerfulness and independence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reading Before Nap Time<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Babies, toddlers, and young children will often take a nap in the early afternoon. This is another perfect time to sneak in some reading!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As your child starts to slow down, choose quieter activities, or zone out, initiate some reading time. Take the child to a cozy spot such as their bed or a rocking chair, and read one to three books. This further relaxes your child, gives them a visual timeline of when it\u2019s time to nap (\u201cThis is our last book!\u201d), and helps them fall asleep faster.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reading After Nap Time<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some kids struggle to wake up from a nap. They can be grouchy, sleepy, or whiney. But cuddling and reading a book while eating a snack is sure to chase away the nap-time blues!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Similar to early morning reading, cuddling with your child and reading a book helps ease them into wakefulness again. A healthy snack or drink also helps gently raise blood sugar and mood so they are cheerful after reading together.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reading Before Bed\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you&#8217;re looking for the best time to read to your time, science has concluded that reading before bed is the best time to read with your child. In <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1177\/0009922815593907\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">one study<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, reading at bedtime significantly lengthened total nighttime sleep duration. If there\u2019s one thing parents want, it\u2019s for their kids to sleep deeper and longer!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With sleepiness to keep them relaxed and fighting sleepiness to keep them alert and engaged, reading at bedtime gives you the best bang for your buck. Reading with your child before bed helps establish a stable routine, promotes bonding, and gets them into a sleepy state of mind to fall asleep\u2013and stay asleep!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-1231 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/crestwoodfb-300x158.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"158\" srcset=\"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/crestwoodfb-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/crestwoodfb-1024x538.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/crestwoodfb-768x403.jpg 768w, https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/crestwoodfb.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Crestwood Preschool Academy is proud to offer an outstanding educational and fun curriculum that prepares your child for kindergarten per state academic standards.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/contact-us\/\">Contact Crestwood Preschool Academy today<\/a> if you&#8217;re looking to give your child a head start in school!<\/p>\n<h2>What&#8217;s Next<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/quality-literature-for-kids-what-it-is-and-how-to-find-it\/\">Quality Literature for Kids: What It Is, and How to Find It<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Parents and teachers intuitively know that children benefit from being read to, but is regular storytime\u00a0really that important? Studies have proven that reading to children benefits them immediately and in the future! Children who are read to have: Better language skills &#8211; Quality literature improves language understanding, grammar, and sentence structure Increased vocabulary &#8211; Quality [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[147],"tags":[142,158,159,157],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Importance of Stories at Bedtime - Crestwood Preschool Academy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/the-importance-of-stories-at-bedtime\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Importance of Stories at Bedtime - Crestwood Preschool Academy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Parents and teachers intuitively know that children benefit from being read to, but is regular storytime\u00a0really that important? Studies have proven that reading to children benefits them immediately and in the future! Children who are read to have: Better language skills &#8211; Quality literature improves language understanding, grammar, and sentence structure Increased vocabulary &#8211; Quality [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/the-importance-of-stories-at-bedtime\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Crestwood Preschool Academy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/crestwoodpreschoolacademy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-01-27T02:20:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-14T02:34:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/crestwoodfb-300x158.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linden Mills\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Linden Mills\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Importance of Stories at Bedtime - Crestwood Preschool Academy","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/the-importance-of-stories-at-bedtime\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Importance of Stories at Bedtime - Crestwood Preschool Academy","og_description":"Parents and teachers intuitively know that children benefit from being read to, but is regular storytime\u00a0really that important? Studies have proven that reading to children benefits them immediately and in the future! Children who are read to have: Better language skills &#8211; Quality literature improves language understanding, grammar, and sentence structure Increased vocabulary &#8211; Quality [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/the-importance-of-stories-at-bedtime\/","og_site_name":"Crestwood Preschool Academy","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/crestwoodpreschoolacademy\/","article_published_time":"2024-01-27T02:20:20+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-01-14T02:34:50+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/crestwoodfb-300x158.jpg"}],"author":"Linden Mills","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Linden Mills","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/the-importance-of-stories-at-bedtime\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/the-importance-of-stories-at-bedtime\/"},"author":{"name":"Linden Mills","@id":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e0ac6719fc6184514cfcf70d0259e841"},"headline":"The Importance of Stories at Bedtime","datePublished":"2024-01-27T02:20:20+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-14T02:34:50+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/the-importance-of-stories-at-bedtime\/"},"wordCount":748,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/the-importance-of-stories-at-bedtime\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/crestwoodfb-300x158.jpg","keywords":["Benefits of Reading","Importance of Reading","Reading Benefits","Reading to Children"],"articleSection":["Parents and Kids"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/the-importance-of-stories-at-bedtime\/","url":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/the-importance-of-stories-at-bedtime\/","name":"The Importance of Stories at Bedtime - Crestwood Preschool Academy","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/the-importance-of-stories-at-bedtime\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/the-importance-of-stories-at-bedtime\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/crestwoodfb-300x158.jpg","datePublished":"2024-01-27T02:20:20+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-14T02:34:50+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/the-importance-of-stories-at-bedtime\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/the-importance-of-stories-at-bedtime\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/the-importance-of-stories-at-bedtime\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/crestwoodfb.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/crestwoodfb.jpg","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/the-importance-of-stories-at-bedtime\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Importance of Stories at Bedtime"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/","name":"Crestwood Preschool Academy","description":"Where children climb to the crest of their love of learning","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/#organization","name":"Crestwood Preschool Academy","url":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/crestwood_logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/crestwood_logo.png","width":267,"height":111,"caption":"Crestwood Preschool Academy"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/crestwoodpreschoolacademy\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e0ac6719fc6184514cfcf70d0259e841","name":"Linden Mills","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/41bbbce9e3b3aabbffd0fac31cb57d10?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/41bbbce9e3b3aabbffd0fac31cb57d10?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Linden Mills"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/lindymwrites.com"],"url":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/author\/lmills\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1372"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1372"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1373,"href":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1372\/revisions\/1373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crestwoodpreschoolacad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}