What's Going On In Your Child's Brain When You Read Them A Story?

In a recent NPR segment, the author dives into new research around the world of reading. The author states, "When children are being read to — compared with other storytelling formats, like animation — they are doing more work than meets the eye. "It's that muscle they're developing bringing the images to life in their minds," says the author of a new study."

LA Johnson/NPR

Hutton, a researcher and pediatrician at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, notes that story telling without animation or photos leads to stronger imagery in the children's mind. He reports concern in the long term for kids who are exposed to too much animation, as their brains are not integrating the words into photos, and development of this vital skill is halted. This can lead to difficulties down the line with language processing, reading processing, and forming mental pictures when provided with directions. 

This story is a great example of the work done here at our clinic to help build language, reading and listening processing.