Reading and Relational Health: Investing in You Child's Emotional World

Imagine offering your child

• a reassuring smile, the first time they go down a slide.
• a squeeze of the hand walking together from the shop.
• a look of admiration when presented with a stick figure portrait.
• a soothing song at bedtime.
• a shared giggle at a silly story.

These everyday experiences that parents and caregivers share with their children might sometimes seem ordinary when in fact moments such as these, repeated over days, weeks, and years build a foundation for healthy development. What may appear to be simple acts of care are actually powerful investments in a child’s emotional world.

Early childhood research by Reach Out and Read highlights the crucial importance of having a safe, stable, and nurturing environment. This means that a child is free from harm and knows that their adult will protect them. The child trusts that their adult is dependable and that their physical and emotional needs will be met. This secure attachment between child and parent or caregiver is referred to as Relational Health.

Having caring and loving interactions with your child nurtures a sense of safety and security that can have a long-lasting impact on their sense of self and their understanding of the world. Children who feel safe and secure are in a better position to explore and learn. Parents can provide opportunities to connect every day with simple and easy activities.

Reading is one incredibly powerful way that parents and caregivers can create strong relationships with their children. Reading engages a child’s senses- listening, looking, and touching. Cuddling on the lap of a loved one while hearing a calm caring voice, making eye contact, and interacting with each other shape early language and brain development. Reading supports exploration and recognition of emotions and creates a positive home learning environment all of which contribute to a strong foundation of attachment. Reading together may look different from family to family and even from day to day. It is the times spent intentionally connecting with and bonding with your child that matter most.

Here at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, we support a leading proponent of Early Relational Health- the Reach Out and Read (ROR) program. In partnership with doctors and nurse practitioners, ROR provides books and encourages shared reading to support caregivers in fostering early literacy and healthy relationships with infants and young children. Our providers across the Nationwide Children's Primary Care Network and the Community Practices are proud to offer Reach Out and Read, the only literacy model endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

When we read with children, we aren’t just teaching words—we’re offering connection, stability, and the kind of presence that helps them grow with confidence and trust.