Otherwise Entitled: The Importance of Reading To and With Your Children (of Any Age!)
This story, from an Australian news source, notes that students benefit most in their education if they have loving parents who read to them. However, according to Adam Swift, these loving parents who read to their children give those children “an unfair advantage” over students who do not come from stable homes.
Swift’s conclusion is frightening: if the government wants everyone to have an “equal” life, (“equal” here meaning “equality of circumstance”), bedtime stories should be banned – and families should be destroyed.
Although this idea was developed by a British philosopher, it likely will not be long before the idea becomes widely recognized and promoted in the United States.
I personally attribute most of my interest in history and literature to the time my parents took to read bedtime stories to my sister and me throughout my childhood – even during my high school years.
As a tutor, I strongly encourage the practice of bedtime stories, whether or not this type of reading takes place at bedtime. By reading to their children, parents can know that their children are receiving wholesome content. Parents can also cultivate discernment in their children by guiding them to a sound understanding of the books and to a biblical worldview. Aside from helping families grow together, bedtime stories allow students to hear well-written books, be introduced to stories that have influenced the culture, develop their vocabulary, and receive models of good character traits to imitate or models of bad character traits to avoid.
Some favorite bedtime stories, listed from younger listeners to older listeners, read in my family include: The Runaway Bunny, Guess How Much I Love You, Little Black A Pony, Officer Buckle and Gloria, Roxaboxen, The Three Little Javelinas, Robert the Rose Horse, anything by Dr. Seuss, The Lion’s Paw, The Children’s Homer, books by the D’Aulaires, Stuart Little, Rascal, Just So Stories, Charlotte’s Web, Little Women, Eight Cousins, An Old-Fashioned Girl, Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, Johnny Tremain, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings, anything by G. A. Henty, Robin Hood, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Pilgrim’s Progress, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, stories by James Harriot, Last of the Mohicans, Beowulf, The Odyssey, A Tale of Two Cities, Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ, essays by E. B. White, and most importantly, the Bible.
Image: The Accolade by Edmund Blair Leighton, in the public domain, from Wikipedia
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