Jeskara Gordon, a psychologist from Mediplus Medical Centre in Sydney, believes that bonding with your child over storytelling is crucial to their development.
“Parents need to make time every night to read to their child,” she says.
“This exercise will not only assist in creating a strong bond but will give the child an opportunity to learn and question certain situations.
“Learning to ask questions in the early stages of development can help children later in life when they are presented with challenges, which they can overcome by asking questions, and understanding how to solve issues.”
Sitting with your child in a relaxed environment while reading to them has countless benefits as a parent, she believes.
That special moment promotes bonding and helps to build a strong and honest relationship, laying the groundwork for the child’s later social, communication and interpersonal skills.
“To read to your child is an important activity which helps build knowledge and the skills your child will use at school,” adds Jeskara.
“From my experience, children whose parents spend time reading to them become good readers and good readers are usually successful learners.”
But as screens become more and more seductive to children, there is an increasing need to inject more magic into books – to find new ways to spark imagination for a generation overwhelmed and over-stimulated.
Jeskara believes that one of the best solutions are books such as those from Lost My Name, the start-up that is revolutionising story-driven personalised entertainment by making the reader part of the story.
Lost My Name just released in Australia a book called The Incredible Intergalactic Journey Home where the child is finding their own home, incorporating the latest satellite and NASA images to zoom in on the child’s neighbourhood and house.
Its previous book called The Little Boy/Girl Who Lost His/Her Name has been Australia’s best-selling picture book since 2014 according to Nielsen.
“Books that promote edutainment encourage stimulation of the mind, and help the two parts of the brain work together; the thinking side and the artistic side, and this can produce amazing results,” says Jeskara.
“To see their name in the book is all part of the magic that Lost My Name has created, and it makes the child feel special – children can say, ‘Wow, I am part of the fantasy and I can fantasise’”.
“It really promotes the importance of having an active role and participating in each other’s lives.”