Because I Said So

Fifteen Minutes

by Danielle Wood

I missed my fifteen minutes. Not the Fifteen Minutes of Fame lurking somewhere in my future. A far more important, and luckily more consistent, quarter-of-an-hour. My fifteen minutes of reading.

Like many parents, I've got a fail safe Before Bed ritual that my son and I have been doing each night since he was an infant. It's gotten a bit more intricate over the years, morphing from just a story and a kiss, to include everything from an intricate Abbott and Costello-like routine called "Two Things", to swatting the bad dreams from underneath the rainbow tent  before I turn out the light. The story thing has been the one shining light of consistency. Until last night, when it got usurped by Lego.

Now, I'm the first one to admit that I love Lego. Fine motor skills practice, creativity without the pressure to color between the lines, learning how to think in three dimensions... I know all this. But it didn't make me feel any better when my son tried to trade in his usually coveted story-time chip for a few more minutes of plastic.

That's because the research has spoken. And to put it plainly, stories matter. Maybe not as much as food and shelter, mind you, but they're right up there near the top of the list. Studies show that reading to children for at least fifteen minutes a day is more than just bonding time. It actually triggers their brain cells and forms new ones. Consistent early reading experiences are directly linked to later reading success. In fact, reading is so important that a few years ago, the President of the American Academy of Pediatrics came out with a statement recommending that pediatricians prescribe daily reading when kids came in for well-child visits.