POSTS TAGGED : studies

Study Says Reading to Kids Doesn’t Make Them Smarter

Study Says Reading to Kids Doesn’t Make Them Smarter

I love to read to my kids. I think it’s one of the most important things I can do for them. They look forward to going to the library and the book store. My older daughter is learning to read in school and gets excited when she can read a sentence on her own. When she asks me who the illustrator of a book is, I know there is a light bulb going on somewhere. So, when a study comes out saying reading to kids doesn’t increase their IQ, I have to roll my eyes.

In a time when we are trying to get parents to spend more time with their kids, let’s discourage them by telling them that sharing the gift of reading will do nothing to make their little ones smarter.

A researcher discovered that how we parent will do nothing to change our children’s IQ because of the role genetics plays. His argument is the way we “parent a child is not going to have a detectable effect on their IQ as long as that parenting is within normal bounds.”

To say I disagree would be an understatement. Kids whose parents don’t read to them will be just as smart as kids whose parents do because of genetics? I don’t think so. Sure, all kids are going to learn to read at school. But, if you don’t do anything at home to reinforce those lessons, all is lost in my opinion. Parents need to take on the responsibility of educator as well. I think laying it all on genetics is just dumb. Studies like these give parents an excuse not to do something they should have been doing all along.

What are your thoughts?

 

How Do You Get Your Kids in Bed by 7?

Yep, its nine o’clock at night right now and both of my kids are still awake. I’m sure many of the so-called sleep experts and many other parents would put me in their books of shame. But, I’m not ashamed to admit that this is pretty typical in my house. My kids are not in bed by 7. Never have been and probably never will be. I’m also not ashamed to admit that I am jealous of the parents out there who can get their kids to close their eyes at 7 at night and not open them until 7 in the morning. Are some of you lying about your kids sleeping habits? I would love to put a nanny cam in your house to see if you are telling the truth!

I don’t want you to think I haven’t tried a more regimented bedtime routine. We do the whole story thing, tuck in, and night night, just like all the books and magazines tell you to do. Then we get untucked, read an encyclopedia and stay awake for hours. I just can’t seem to successfully force a bedtime on my kids. It’s not like my kids are up till midnight, but they are more in the nine to nine thirty range. Now, there’s a study that actually shows that the time parents choose for their kids may not jive with his or her internal body clock. This study is worth reading because it makes me feel like maybe my kids are not as crazy as I may have thought and maybe I’m not either. Maybe.

My kids do have a routine, but they just seem to fall asleep when they’re little body says enough is enough. Unfortunately, it’s not always when I’m ready to stare at the back of my eyelids for the next seven hours (that is seven, if I’m lucky….more like six). There have been plenty of nights when I try to get them in bed earlier, but it just doesn’t work. That is, unless I want temper tantrums and fights that make me angrier than when they took ALF off the air in the eighties.

With all that said, if you are one of those parents who HONESTLY get your kid to be early, enjoy it. Just know that I’m awake with jealously and already thinking of all the coffee I’m going to have to drink tomorrow to keep up with these energizer bunnies.

Night, night and sweet dreams…