Dads don’t miss out ….. Bedtime stories are bliss!!

As an experienced primary school teacher and mother of three I’m forever talking about the importance of establishing a bedtime story time routine as early as possible and the fact that one of the greatest gifts you can give your child is a love of books. I’ve always believed and continue to tell anyone who’ll listen, that reading is central to a child’s education – if you can instill a love of books when you child is very young they are much more likely to become “life long readers” and research has shown that they will do better at school. But it’s not always down to mums, dads need to get involved too!

Proud and Gentle Daddy

I was shocked to read that a new study has found that over 80 per cent of young fathers don’t enjoy reading to their children. According to new Booktrust figures, only 19 per cent of 16-24 year old fathers say they enjoy reading at bedtime with their children. That’s compared to 78 per cent of fathers aged 55 and over. Bedtime stories, it seems, are dying out.

Well, young dads don’t know what they are missing out on. Bedtime stories are bliss and the best part of the day.

For once the children are not running around filthy, naked, shouting at each other and drowning in tears and snot. Instead, for a brief moment, they are cosy, inquisitive and content. Their teeth are brushed, pyjamas are on and faces are scrubbed. All is calm.

The storytime that follows is a moment when a bond of learning and trust is built. By reading with your kids or inventing stories you are not only helping them with their concentration skills, widening their vocabulary and developing a love of books you are also helping them slip towards sleep with food for their dreams. It’s also an ideal time to chat to your child about everything and anything, after all how often do you get a concentrated 15-20 minutes with your totally focused two year old?

But that’s not all …Booktrust concluded that reading every day to pre-school children gives them a 12-month head start by the time they arrive in the classroom.

So I say: fathers, get reading at bedtime with your children – it’s the best part of the day.

Mothers, if you want to encourage Dad to start spending quality time with his offspring, create a personalised Love 2 Read My Dad… book for Father’s Day this year – he’ll love being the star of the bedtime story!

Caroline Edwards!
www.love2read.co.uk

The lovely Caroline at Love 2 Read is offering one Edspire reader the chance to make a personalised Father’s Day gift for their husband or Daddy.

Make Pa the star!
We are pleased to offer one lucky reader the opportunity to create their own My dad… personalised love2read book in our fabulous competition.

Dads will love being the star of the bedtime story, so love2read has come up with the perfect Father’s Day gift in the form of a unique, personalised book.

Their range of books can be personalised by adding ten photos and text to the pages e.g. “My dad plays golf”, “My dad likes cars” or “My dad loves me”.

Love2read’s website is full of templates, all you have to do is pick the one that you want, upload your ten digital photos and then add some simple text.

There is a wide selection of templates to choose from including – My dad…,My daddy…, Our dad… and My grandad.

The books are themed around National Curriculum keywords and are designed to stimulate the child’s interest in books so that they really want to read. No software is needed, the website is easy to use and you can even save your book as you go along if you need to come back to it later.

This year, give a Father’s Day gift the whole family will treasure forever – and help your child catch the reading bug at the same time.

To ensure books arrive in time for Father’s Day, orders need to be placed by midnight on Tuesday 10th June.

For further information and to see the range of books on offer please visit the website at: www.love2read.co.uk

You can follow love2read on Twitter and Pinterest or join them on Facebook where you will find information on how to help your child to read and activities to encourage early literacy.

To be in with a chance of winning a special book for Daddy or Granddad in time for Father’s Day, fill in the Rafflecopter form below.

Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway