{"id":50446,"date":"2019-12-16T11:03:27","date_gmt":"2019-12-16T19:03:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=50446"},"modified":"2019-12-16T11:03:27","modified_gmt":"2019-12-16T19:03:27","slug":"5-reasons-i-always-get-children-picture-books-for-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/5-reasons-i-always-get-children-picture-books-for-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"5 reasons I always get children picture books for Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Christmas is just around the corner. If you\u2019re wondering what to get your child, your friends\u2019 children, your nieces, nephews or basically any very young person in your life \u2013\u00a0 I highly recommend picture books.<\/p>\n

Many people can remember a favourite book when they were a kid. Some of my favourites were the Berenstain Bears with Papa Bear trying, unsuccessfully, to teach his children how to ride a bike or gather honey.<\/p>\n

Sadly, a\u00a02011 report from the UK<\/a>\u00a0showed the number of young people who say they own a book is decreasing. The report also showed a clear relationship between receiving books as presents and reading ability.<\/p>\n

Children who said they had never been given a book as a present were more likely to be reading below the expected level for their age.<\/p>\n

There are lots of benefits of reading aloud to young children, including developing\u00a0children\u2019s language<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0print awareness<\/a>. These include knowing that the squiggles on the page represent words, and that the words tell a story.<\/p>\n

Such knowledge gives children a head start when they go on to reading at school.<\/p>\n

1. Reading to kids increases their vocabulary<\/h4>\n

Research shows\u00a0books have a greater variety<\/a>\u00a0of words than conversations. But it\u00a0also suggests<\/a>\u00a0the conversations had during reading matter most.<\/p>\n

Adults should discuss ideas in books with children, as they occur, as opposed to just reading a book from start to finish. Talking about the pictures, or what has happened, can lead to rich conversations and enhance language development.<\/p>\n

The more words you know, the simpler it is to recognise them and comprehend the meaning of the text. Children who read more become better readers and\u00a0more successful students<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2. Books can increase children\u2019s maths and science skills<\/h4>\n

Picture books show children\u00a0maths<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0science<\/a>\u00a0concepts through a story, which helps kids grasp them easier.<\/p>\n

Some books (like\u00a0How Many Legs<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0How Big is a Million<\/a>) explicitly explore concepts such as numbers. Other stories, like the Three Little Pigs, have concepts embedded in them. Children can learn about the properties of materials when adults talk about the strength of hay, sticks and bricks.<\/p>\n

A study in the Netherlands found kindergarten children who were read picture books, and were engaged in discussions of the maths concepts in the books,\u00a0increased their maths performance<\/a>, compared to a control group of children who weren\u2019t read these books.<\/p>\n

Early Learning STEM Australia has created a\u00a0booklist<\/a>\u00a0which gives parents and teachers ideas for books that contain STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) ideas. These include:<\/p>\n