In my role as grandfather ("G-Pop") to my 11-month-old grandson, Jackson, I'm busy researching all the parenting info I somehow managed to miss (HA!) and am happily force feeding to Jackson's mom, my daughter Sarah. Do you recall your favorite bedtime story as a kid? Sarah will tell you about all the crazy made-up stories I told her -- especially about a stuffed rabbit called Blue Bunners.

Personally, I only vaguely remember some Aesop’s fables and a scary Grimm's fairy tale or two. It must have been enough to launch an interest in reading, though, because I have been an avid reader most of my life, and in part I read for a living -- so I’m already on board with the importance of reading to kids.

A new study backs that up, concluding that reading to children early and often activates the part of their brains that allows them to understand the meaning of language.

Researchers studied preschoolers and their interactions with their parents. Parents filled out questionnaires about their habits for raising their children, as well as how often they talked, read to and counted with their children. Researchers then monitored the children's brain activity as the kids listened to stories. Reading at home with children from an early age was strongly correlated with brain activation in areas connected with visual imagery and understanding the meaning of language.

The study reinforces the idea that reading teaches young children the rules of syntax adds to their vocabulary, and helps them bond with their parents. The hope is that further studies will provide parents with exact guidelines on the best practices for reading to their kids. (Time

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