By CATHERINE MASTERS
Waikato University psychology professor Jane Ritchie has been studying children and families for decades.
The reading of bedtime stories to her daughter Jenny - now a senior lecturer in Waikato University's Department of Early Childhood Studies (see report above) - was always an important part of their lives.
"Reading a story is much more than just literacy, it's a whole relationship," Professor Ritchie says.
"Just the snuggling up, the little child on the lap, both enjoying the story, a bit of conversation about it, particularly when the child knows the book a bit and you're anticipating, 'Now where will the bunny be eating the carrots.' "
A recent British study shows that parents who want to boost their children's academic performance and social skills should try a traditional bedtime story.
But it also shows that pressures on working parents mean the tradition is becoming less a part of family life.
Sixty per cent of parents polled in the British study said they did not have the time to read or invent stories for their children.
Of the 84 parents in the British study, 73 per cent had been read to regularly when they were young - but only 40 per cent of their children heard a story most nights.
Professor Ritchie says there are definite literacy benefits in bedtime stories.
"But it's a loving relationship as well and I would say that's almost as important in building a quiet, pleasant time.
"I know it has dividends as well for when children go to school. I did a preschool project in the seventies which was actually for Maori children, but the findings would apply, I think, to any child - that you can develop language through books.
"Teachers of children in our programme who had had books read to them about four or five times a day commented how the children ran to the book corner, how familiar they were with the books, how they knew how to open them, how they knew that the print goes from left to right. These are called early reading skills and they had developed all those, so there is a literacy advantage."
To parents who say they are too exhausted to read stories, she asks: "What is 10 minutes of your time at bedtime?
"It's pleasant and enjoyable for the child and it becomes pleasant and enjoyable for the parent.
"You're talking about 10 minutes. It's part of the child's bedtime ritual - time for bed, have a story in bed.
"It makes going to bed a pleasant thing for the child, a pleasant thing for the parents.
"I mean it's not much to give and reading a story - we're not exactly asking you to lift weights or run around the block.
"You simply have to sit down and put the child on your knee or snuggle up to the child in bed and read a book. There are loads of books."
For three decades Professor Ritchie has been asking parents how often they read to their children. About two-thirds of mothers still read to their children once a day.
Results of her research:
Mothers reading one story a day:
* 1977 - 56 per cent
* 1987 - 79 per cent
* 1997 - 67 per cent
Fathers reading one story a day:
* 1977 - 26 per cent
* 1987 - 41 per cent
* 1997 - 27 per cent
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