19% of younger dads<\/a> said they actually enjoyed reading at bedtime with their kids. Which is ridiculous. Even if those statistics are true — and it\u2019s super-depressing to think that they are — those numbers don\u2019t take into account all of the truly, truly amazing dad readers I\u2019ve met over the years, dads who shouldn\u2019t be overshadowed by any headline-grabbing piece of sociological research.<\/p>\nAnd sometimes I say it as a sales pitch. I\u2019ll tell a dad who might seem apathetic about reading that \u201cIt\u2019s important for dads to read with their kids,\u201d and I\u2019m hoping, just hoping they turn around and ask me \u201cWHY?\u201d<\/p>\n
Because the \u201cWHY\u201d is the fun part.<\/p>\n
Why should dads read with their kids?<\/p>\n
Because, while, yes, dads are supposed to protect, feed, and defend their children, they\u2019re also responsible for introducing their kids to the world around them. Books are remarkable tools for doing just that.<\/p>\n
And the people reading those books make all the difference.<\/p>\n
This is where dads come in.<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re a particularly confident reader or if you do silly voices for all of the characters. What actually matters is that you\u2019re helping your children understand what they\u2019re reading.<\/p>\n
When you read with your kid, you\u2019re seeing if they\u2019re grasping key concepts, you\u2019re answering questions, you\u2019re starting discussions if they\u2019re too hesitant to ask questions on their own. You\u2019re helping them filter all of this crazy knowledge that the book is sharing through a perspective, YOUR unique perspective, and that helps make all that new information much more human and relatable.<\/p>\n
And, personally, I think the perspective of a dad has a whole lot of value.<\/p>\n
Granted, it\u2019s important for ALL types of caregivers to do this, but, all too often, I see dads opt out of reading because they\u2019d rather handle some other parenting duty and I think they\u2019re missing the point.<\/p>\n
You\u2019re not just reading them a story. You\u2019re holding their hand, opening a door, and showing them what the world is like.<\/p>\n
If that introduction is too big, scary, or confusing, you\u2019re the one there with them, trying to explain what everything means. And, even if you don\u2019t know what everything means, you\u2019re there as their partner, saying, \u201cJeez, I don\u2019t know. Let\u2019s find out together.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a big deal. And, as a dad, that\u2019s something I want to be there for.<\/p>\n
So, yes, it is important for dads to read with the kids.\u00a0Duh<\/em>. But it\u2019s not because it\u2019s something we HAVE to do. It\u2019s because, when we read with our kids, we have the chance to share some small part of ourselves with our children and that\u2019s an opportunity that no dad should miss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The statement \u201cIt\u2019s important for dads to read with their kids\u201d sounds painfully obvious, but there’s more to it than dads might think. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":847,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[56,85,116],"coauthors":[12],"class_list":["post-468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tips-advice","tag-reading-aloud","tag-family","tag-parenting"],"yoast_head":"\n
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I\u2019m Glad You Asked \u2026 | Brightly","description":"The statement \u201cIt\u2019s important for dads to read with their kids\u201d sounds painfully obvious, but there's more to it than dads might think.","canonical":"https:\/\/www.readbrightly.com\/why-dads-should-read-with-their-kids\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why Should Dads Read with Their Kids? 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