Put on jammies, get comfy, and....

READ!

I cannot stress enough the importance of reading to your children. The benefits of reading to children are immense and considering the attention span of the average blog reader, I'll try to summarize as best as I can- It molds our kids into becoming readers, it expands there vocabulary and ability to form well structured sentences, it provides quality bonding time, it builds listening skills, increases a child's attention span, helps them learn to concentrate, it develops and fosters a child's natural curiosity, etc.

In the last couple of years, I've developed an interest in donating to worthy causes. Typically, anything that involves helping children pulls at my heart strings. Consider my side bar to be Exhibit A.

Something grabbed my attention while wandering about the web this morning, and it made me think "You mean, not everyone reads to their children daily?" I've always thought of it as part of the routine.... feed them, bathe them, and read books. I began to research more. As it turns out, many households don't even have books. Then I sat back and thought about how many times I've spent the night at other peoples houses, and at bedtime looked around their child's room for a book or two to read K, and not being able to find one. Kaytlin must have books read to her at bedtime. It's a long lived ritual and if it doesn't happen she just doesn't know what to do. Now we bring books with us on overnight trips.

Thanks to our long commitment to reading books, K has an excellent vocabulary and forms sentences that most other 5 year olds would never even think of forming. For me, this is a by-product, not the primary reason. I do it because it provides us with time to settle in from a long day before going to sleep. It provides us with cuddle time, time for her to ask one million questions, time for her to learn something new that she isn't learning about in school, time for me to be the teacher.

(K right before bedtime... she was cold so she put a pullover on until it was time to go to sleep, do admire the mama made crochet leg warmers =), I couldn't find a pic of us reading, but this was right before book time)
Which brings me to my newest charitable cause: First Book. According to there site- "First Book provides new books to children in need, addressing one of the most important factors affecting literacy – access to books. An innovative leader in social enterprise, First Book has distributed more than 60 million free and low cost books in thousands of communities." For every $2.50 donated, a book is provided for a child in need.

If you are looking to promote reading and provide low income families with books for there children, please consider donating to First Book.

They need not only funding, but volunteers. Please see the site for additional information.

My search for an affordable, yet quality, gift for my nieces/nephews/young cousins is over..... everyone is getting books.