Never underestimate the benefits of reading to your children.  Not only will they benefit from it, but you will too.  You can develop a closeness with them as you read, as well as teaching them many things in the process.

     When my children were very young, I started reading out loud to them.  I would read to my firstborn when he was just a baby, and did the same to each one after that.  I believe they develop a love of reading and learning by hearing you read to them.  They learn from the various inflections in your voice, as well as different expressions you put into it.  Even very young children enjoy looking at the pictures as you read the words.  They love sitting on your lap and listening to you read.

     As my children got older, we would all sit together on the couch, and I would read to them.  There was a closeness there as we all snuggled up with a good book.  We read The Little House on the Prairie series,  The Chronicles of Narnia series, and The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings series as they got older.  We read the Bible and memorized Bible verses together.  We learned a lot of facts from books, but we also were entertained together, as we were taken to far away places through the experiences of the authors- like Catherine Marshall's Christy, and Peter Jenkin's Walk Across America. We kept up the habit of sitting together on the couch and reading out loud each day after lunch, even when they kids got to high school!  What fond memories we have of those times and those shared books!

     Now I have 12 grandchildren, and they also love to be read to.  Many times when I visit one of my grown children's houses, one of the grandchildren will bring me a book to read to them.  I still love to pull them up onto my lap and read aloud to them, as we snuggle together.  Sometimes I feel like I get more benefit from it than they do!  It's a great way to make wonderful memories with children.