👩‍👧 READ to YOUR CHILD Day 2025 – Feb 14

📚 READ to YOUR CHILD Day ORIGIN & HISTORY

Setting aside this day as READ to YOUR CHILD Day does not have a clear-cut origin or history but we do know it’s celebrated on the 14th Day in February.  If only itty bitty Der could somehow grow up faster … she couldn’t WAIT to learn how to read! Nevertheless setting aside time to do this activity has far-reaching benefits. It supports cognitive development, improves language acquisition, helps with increasing attention span, invokes a sense of curiosity and the list goes on and on. Children develop an appreciation for reading. Children learn to problem solve by reflecting and learning to associate what’s happening in stories as they read the character’s experiences.

Reading to a child helps them be more successful in everything they do. It helps young children to be ready for school in preparation for learning in a formal education environment beginning in kindergarten. Start as early as infancy, even though the little ones won’t necessarily be able to understand what you’re saying most of the time. The connection however will foster a bond between you and Junior. Similarly, it helps them create an understanding between the contextual meaning of the spoken language and what’s being said. It conveys ideas. In addition, the more a child hears words spoken to them, the more synaptic responses and brain cell development will occur.

How to Read to Children

This also aids in being able to make their own decisions. Slow down when you read to reflect on the story. Ask questions like what’s going on, how they think a character feels in the story, and make predictions about what they think will happen next. As children learn to have discussions about what they read, they become more adept at discussing their thoughts on other topics. This helps them to problem solve and make decisions in other real-life situations. Children are more readily able to share meaningful thoughts in conversations.  As children engage with you they become more laser-focused and relaxed and less likely to require a fidget spinner.

Reading elicits calmness which in turn replaces aggression, frustration, and sadness. Reading helps children’s emotional well-being, so establish a normal reading routine that’ll create a bond of trust and assuredness. It’s a great opportunity for positive quality time spent together. Children also learn to develop social skills by learning how to communicate more effectively by utilizing knowledge from gaining a greater vocabulary. This will help them be more capable of speaking to other people as well.

WANTED: Skills Needed

Unfortunately, 1 out of 3 students enter kindergarten without having skills to enable them to begin reading, and in third grade 2 out of 3 children cannot read fluently. Both of these things influence a child’s ability to communicate and comprehend what they’re reading and therefore affect the juvenile ability to learn. Learning language written in books differs more often having proper grammar and the usage of more descriptive language as opposed to the typical language spoken every day.

The University of Michigan addresses five skills that affect children’s ability to learn and process information that’s acquired through reading. Developing these skills takes time which is why reading regularly is critical. Knowledge of these skills will impact how a child does once they enter kindergarten. These skills are:

• Phonemic Awareness – they can hear, recognize, and play with sounds (phonemes) found in words
• Phonics – being able to connect letters together in spoken language, vocabulary words are needed to communicate thoughts effectively. Like G … Grandfather FroG
• Reading Comprehension – gathering meaning and understanding from what they read and fluency from reading words quickly and with accuracy

Knowledge through consistent reading allows children to process information. The more that one reads, the greater success one will achieve no matter what interests one pursues in life. Papi didn’t read as many books as Nanny growing up but did so voraciously later in life to build up his vocabulary.

📙 HOW to Celebrate & Observe READ to YOUR CHILD Day?

Not sure how to LOVE the day? We’ve got a few interesting ideas to consider that may help get you started.

Here are some activities that you can do on READ to YOUR CHILD Day!

💙 STROLL down Memory Lane

What are some books you enjoyed reading as a child? Share your favorite book on this day and begin storytime with your child.

💙 BECOME a Voice actor

Read a new book and give the characters in the book their own voices. If they stumble on a word, look it up in a dictionary and discover the meaning of the phrase to add to their vocabulary.

💙 The GANG’s all Here

Visit a bookstore or library and attend a read-aloud storytime on this day. If you can’t find an event in your area, invite youngsters from the cul-de-sac over and have your own interactive storytime. Offer snacks that go along with the book. Maybe dress up or decorate the room you’re reading in. Feel free to get creative. Make it fun! Plus all the other parents will thank you for giving them a much-needed break.

💙 RAISE Social Awareness

Use social media posts with the hashtags #ReadToYourChildDay, #LibraryLoversDay, #ChildrensBooks, #Reading, #Books, #HealthHolidays, #FebruaryHolidays, #Holiday, #FindADayToLOVE, #iHEARTdays to support the importance of celebrating, promoting, and sharing with the world why you ❤️ READ to YOUR CHILD Day.

LEARN more about the benefits of READING TO A CHILD

ENCOURAGE KIDS TO LOVE READING

HOW TO READ TO YOUR CHILD

ELEVEN Key Facts you never knew about READ to YOUR CHILD Day

1. Children who read 1 million words a year are in the top 2% of their reading achievement performance.
2. Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” was the first book ever written on a typewriter.
3. Reading for just six minutes per day reduces stress by 68% when they lose themselves in a good book.
4. Read for only 20 minutes a day and pat yourself on the back for reading 1.8 million words in a year!
5. If you want your child to build their vocabulary, they can discover between 4,000 and 12,000 words while reading in a single year.
6. If you READ one book a day to a child, they will have been read 1,825 books by age five.
7. People who read books seem to be better at learning new languages too.
8. There are special books made for children who are blind or visually impaired with braille text and sometimes even tactile illustrations so that everyone can enjoy the magic of storytelling.
9. MIT researchers have created robot-assisted storytellers called Tega and Jibo. They read stories to children and interact with the kids by gauging a child’s emotions, attention span, and whether they’ve learned new words or sentences. This makes reading sessions even more engaging and exciting by adapting to each child’s learning level!
10. The record for the longest marathon reading aloud by a team is 365 hours, 39 minutes, and 39 seconds! That’s more than 15 days of non-stop reading – imagine the number of books they went through!
11. Some shelters and rescue centers have programs where children read to animals to help soothe and socialize them.

Famous PEOPLE also born on January 14th

• Babur, the First Mughal Emperor

  Invading Muslim Prince born Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad. He came to northern India from central Asia, now known as Uzbekistan, and founded the Mughal dynasty in 1526 by uniting neighboring nomadic tribes. He descended from both Genghis Khan & Timur and used his strategic military might to conquer the region with 12,000 men and muskets which the opposing forces did not possess. Babur’s uncle (as uncles are often spirited to do) stole his lands while he was abroad fighting a war. Born 1483.

  BABUR Quote

  “My own soul is my most faithful friend. My own heart, my truest confidant.”

•  C Latham Sholes

  American inventor and member of the Wisconsin Senate best known for inventing the QWERTY keyboard and one of four men thought to be the inventor of the typewriter. He had tuberculosis most of his life and was unable to find a market for the first practical typewriter; he later sold the rights to the Remington Arms Company for $12,000. Born 1819.

  C LATHAM SHOLES Quote

  “You know that my apprehension is, that the thing may take a while, and for a while there may be an active demand for them [the typewriter], but that like any other novelty, it will have its brief day and be thrown aside.”

• Raymond Joseph Teller

  American illusionist and magician best known as the reticent partner of the Penn & Teller dynamic duo. I can confirm that he indeed does speak while meeting him after a performance at the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas USA. Born 1948.

  TELLER Quote

  “Onstage, I find absolutely nothing but exhilaration in not talking.”

Future DATES for READ to YOUR CHILD Day

👶 Reading to a Child FAQ

How LONG should you read to your child each day?

• Start off with at least 20 minutes a day. The books you choose should be somewhat easy for the child who needs to hear the words over and over again to build fluency. That way the kid will stop less and less to decipher the words they don’t understand!

Should I read to my child EVERY night?

• Yes, reading a chapter every night before bed and bonding with your child one-on-one is excellent. As your offspring grows up you’ll find it’s harder and harder to schedule quality time with them without the distractions of modern living, and this way you both have something to look forward to on a nightly basis.

How many words should a 7-year-old READ? or How many words should MY CHILD read?

• Here’s a good indicator measured in words per minute (wpm) no matter how old your child is.

• 1st graders: 6-7 years old is 53 to 111 wpm.
• 2nd graders: 7-8 years old is 89 to 149 wpm.
• 3rd graders: 8-9 years old is 107 to 162 wpm.
• 4th graders: 9-10 years old is 123 to 180 wpm.
• 5th graders: 10-11 years old is 139 to 194 wpm.
• 6th-8th graders: 11-14 years old is 150 to 204 wpm.

Why we L💜VE READ to YOUR CHILD Day

You never need an excuse to read to your child! We love this day because it reminds us busy adults just in case we didn’t pencil it on our calendars.

1. It Builds EFFICIENCY

   Children consistently stumble less on troublesome words so they can process the information they read rather than try to figure out what words mean. Being efficient in reading helps children intake information better and therefore do well in many areas overall. Sharing a book read out loud helps support a child’s well-being above all. This activity is fun and fosters a relationship between you and your child. The more and more that a child is read to for instance, the better they are at developing cognitive skills.

2. It’s BENEFICIAL

   There are so many benefits from being read to which will help them throughout their young life into adolescence and adulthood. This is chiefly the result of learning anything that requires individuals to be good readers. Reading will help young ones to be more social as they can then express thoughts more effectively.

   Getting the opportunity for someone to read to them on an ongoing basis will also give children the emotional boost they need. Consider reading to a child because of the numerous things that will positively impact them through their entire life.

So Which Book Did You PICK?