All young kids should have a parent that reads books with them

It's very important to read to children. I read to mine even when they were babies and all of them are excellent readers. My youngest just got tested in reading and is found to be gifted in that area, and when I found out and told him, he tells me, "But mom, I hate reading"..LOL So even if they don't like it, they can excel in it..:)

I am not a major reader, nor am I even close to being a mother(I'm 14), I do like reading and learning about children and most things I read say that reading to a baby is very important when they are young. It can teach them communication. It also teaches them the concepts of story, shapes, and colors in a good way. It will build their vocabulary and give them info about the place they live in. :]

Reading is definitely essential :) I'm a graduate student working towards being a school speech pathologist and I had a whole class on reading disorders this past semester. One of the things I have do to as part of my job is to be able to tell who hasn't had enough exposure to reading and is capable of catching up with the rest of the class if they have extra help and who has an impairment that will take serious controlled effort on part of the therapist and teacher to help them improve. :D I will read to my kids as soon as they are in my stomach!

Sincemy daughter was in my tummy, i read a lot . Now she is already 8 years old and on her 4th grade. She spend most of her time reading books. She doesn't tired reading from magazines, novels, stories encyclopedias and all in English. I guess i develop her passion in reading. This is essential for IQ improvement.

I started reading to my kids when they were real small. It helps them so much even more than word recognition. It helps with other things like sequencing and things like that. My daughter is already reading to my grandson. It helps develop a life long love of reading and books. It is great for the child's language development as you said.

I agree. Every child should start reading books when their young. It will greatly improve their language skills. It will open up their minds to beautiful literature in this world. The only drawback of reading is your eyesight will have a problem if the reading is not done properly.

My parents used to read with me a lot when I was really young. It was fun. They encouraged me to push myself, and to not get down about not knowing certain words. I think reading has played a role in my somewhat keen observational/comprehension skills.

I think reading is very important for your children. My mother read to me when I was young and I wound up being the first kid in my kindergarten class to be able to read. I also had better speaking skills as my mother had been teaching me words thru the books for years. Today I love reading and I like to think I have pretty good grammar and I know quite a few words. I feel bad as my sister didn't read to 3 of her kids and they were slow to learn how to speak and they still struggle with reading today in junior high school. So just looking at the example of me and them, I am pretty certain that I will read to my children and help give them the advantage.