Archway Arete Reminds Us That Bedtime Stories are Important

Down in Gilbert, Ariz., lower school students and their families at Archway Arete were recently invited to a special annual event. “Bedtime Stories” happens in the early evening and invites students to come to the school in their pajamas to hear a bedtime story read aloud by faculty before receiving a night-time snack and heading home to go to bed.

“Who does not love a bedtime story?” asked veteran 4^th grade teacher and event organizer, Rachel Lavell. She explained that for the event, teachers come in their pajamas as well and prepare their classrooms by pushing all the desks to the back, giving students plenty of room to sit on the floor for the readings.

Students came with their families, dressed for bed and many holding their favorite night-time stuffy. Each classroom had two books that were read aloud by the 10 participating teachers during the 30-minute story time. “I let teachers pick their favorite. So, I know somebody is reading Skippyjon Jones and I know somebody else is reading The Giving Tree,” explained Lavell. “When you’re done, you get milk and cookie and then you get to go home because you have to have a bedtime snack.”

While the Great Hearts reading lists rely on longer format classics and Great Books, especially in the upper schools, many studies show that there are plenty of benefits for younger scholars to having a bedtime routine that includes short stories.

According to an article from the Children’s Literacy Foundation, a routine of reading bedtime stories to your child aloud, help in the development of your child’s language and vocabulary skills. Using their imagination as the stories are read aloud is also key so they can begin to make visual associations and think about what they’re trying to visualize in their minds.

Bedtime stories also help enhance empathy. “Reading fiction provides an excellent training for young people in developing and practicing empathy and theory of mind, that is, understanding of how other people feel and think,” says Maria Nikolajeva, professor of education at Cambridge University, in her study relating to the topic.

And lastly, but notably the most meaningful biproduct of a bedtime story routine is that it strengthens your familial bond. Snuggled up and ready for bed, this rare moment in the evening allows life to slow down as you and your child share the simple experience of enjoying a story together. It’s the kind of moment that often becomes a core memory, one many of us still carry with us into adulthood.

We have many literary events throughout our academies that remind students the importance of wonder and imagination within the books we read. But the Bedtime Stories event at Archway Arete is a great reminder to parents of how a simple story and the discipline of reading together can make a great impact on our families.

Do you have a story or know of one that you would like to see featured at Great Hearts? Please contact jmoore@greatheartsamerica.org.

Submit a student application to a Great Hearts Academy by visiting: https://www.greatheartsamerica.org/enroll/.