Part of your nanny responsibilities should include reading bedtime stories for the children in your care. Reading to your child is a great way to end the day and get the child relaxed and ready for bed. Parents should also read to their children to maintain a consistent bedtime routine when their nanny is off duty. 

How do children benefit from bedtime stories?

There are several benefits young children gain from bedtime stories, including:

#1: Disconnected from Technology

The great thing about reading a book to a child is it gets them off their tablets. It is crucial for childhood development to ensure children discontinue screen time a few hours before bedtime. 

#2: Bonding Time

Bedtime stories are a great way for nannies and parents to bond with their children. Spending time together shows the children they are cared for and loved. You even can experience interactions with your children outside of the story you would have otherwise missed.

#3: Learning Opportunities

During early childhood, kids pick up a lot when they are read bedtime stories. Their literacy skills develop much faster than other children who do not get read to daily. Bedtime stories help children learn new words, enhance their language skills, and expand their vocabulary.

#4 Reading Skills Development

By creating a day-to-day reading routine for your children, they are more likely to develop their own independent reading habits. They may attempt to read aloud the story you read them the previous night on their own. Furthermore, many children learn to read before entering primary school when they are read bedtime stories.

#5: Establishes a Routine

Children need some downtime before bedtime after a busy day of playing, exploring, watching TV, and running around. Reading bedtime stories is a great way to help them relax and wind down so they can drift off to sleep easier while dreaming of being the hero or heroine in the story they are being read.

#6: Stimulates a Child’s Imagination

By fostering imagination development  during early childhood with bedtime stories, it helps them to become more creative. Their imaginations also help them dream about all sorts of things, such as inventing new machines, making up their own stories, or expanding their artistic abilities.

#7: Language and Communication Skills Development

Reading bedtime stories can help children who are struggling with language and communication skills. Stopping and asking children questions about the story, what they think will happen next, and how the story will end makes them more comfortable speaking and sharing their thoughts.

#8: Improves Reasoning and Logic Skills

Reading the same bedtime story several nights in a row may seem redundant for the nanny or parent. However, they are learning how to predict potential outcomes based on the patterns they learn from other stories. These skills help them reason out problems and come to logical conclusions in other areas as well.

#9: Easier to Learn a Foreign Language

Reading bedtime stories in a foreign language can help children master the foreign language through the various words, visuals, and sounds they encounter in the stories. It is never too early to start teaching children a foreign language.

#10: Helps Children Develop Their Interests

Some children love dinosaurs or outer space. Other children want to be a prince or princess. Reading to your child at bedtime helps foster the growth of their interests. For instance, if your child loves the story about a rat who becomes a chef, it could spark an interest in your child where they want to learn how to cook.

#11: Helps Children Develop Their Emotions

Emotional development in children occurs through observation of others’ actions and responses. Children look at their characters’ actions to help them think about how the characters feel and relate those feelings to their own situations. Additionally, as they begin to understand their emotions, they can better communicate their feelings and why they feel that way.

Selecting the Perfect Bedtime Stories

Picking the perfect bedtime stories for your children is not difficult. For toddlers, choose stories that promote language development with bright and colorful illustrations. You can let preschoolers start to pick their own stories or select stories for them based on their interests.

For primary school-aged children, you will want to give them more freedom in selecting the book. You should also encourage them to read aloud to you for at least part of the story.

As your children become tweens and teens, you can still stick with a nightly bedtime routine that involves reading bedtime stories with independent reading time before lights out.

Finding Nannies to Read to Your Children

Reading bedtime stories to your children offers numerous benefits to their development. For help finding nannies that enjoy reading bedtime stories to children, please feel free to contact Staffing at Tiffanie’s.

We provide access to qualified nannies that match the specific needs and requirements of our clients. We also help nannies looking for placement with the perfect family. To get started, fill out our online application or call us directly at 866-484-5550 today!