You are your child’s first and best teacher. One of the most important things you can do to promote good brain development is reading with your child every day at home. Start when they are newborns and continue long after they are able to read alone. Study after study shows that early reading with children helps them learn to speak, interact, bond with parents and read early themselves. Reading with kids who already know how to read helps them feel close to caretakers, understand the world around them, and be empathetic citizens of the world.

Long after children can read by themselves, it’s still important and valuable for you to read aloud together. By reading stories that are on their interest level, but a bit beyond their reading level, you can stretch young readers’ understanding and help them improve their skills.