Bedtime Stories

     Some features of stories can come just from pictures.  Seeing pictures tells a story within itself.  When listening to the Russian bedtime story, the music and pictures were relaxing enough to help a child calm down, and want to read and see what comes next.  Of course, i could not understand the language of the story, but through the music and illustrations, i was able to get a gist of the bedtime russian story.
     In Little Toot and the Loch Nest Monster, a character actually came out on the video to introduce herself,  and what she will be doing.  The narrator of the story was a man, but what made the whole story interesting was that it was as if you were watching a movie, not reading a book.  These were two totally different techniques used in the Russian story, and this story.  The use of the narrator's voice also indicated when something important was going to happen.  At the end of the story, Shelly, the woman comes back with the moral of the story.  This may help children understand the story better.
     Bedtime stories, so common in the middle class household, in fact prepare children for school.  From the time children are born, many parents are reading to them.  This goes as a form of communication.  Once the child reaches the age of two or three when he or she can talk, bed time stories become very important because now the mother or father can now interact with the child while reading.  They can interact by asking questions, showing pictures, asking what might happen next, what the child did or did not like about the story, and so on.
     Bedtime stories also give a sense of routine, which is good for a child.  Before he or she knows it, they will be in a school setting, following many different routines.  It also establishes a relationship with the person who is actually reading the story.
     Some people believe that by reading to their child at an early age before bed, could increase their vocabulary and make their child more intellectual.  Hearing a variety of vocabulary is good for a young child.  It helps him or her experience and understand more of what people around them may be talking about.  Many children learn through reading and looking at illustrations.  Children can tell their own stories by looking at illustrations.  This is what helps expand their imaginations.  The more reading a parent does with a child, the better it benefits the child.