RICHMOND, Va. -- When it comes to reading bedtime stories, a new study suggests it can be more effective when men do it than women.
The Daily Telegraph reports on the study, which followed parents over the course of a year. They said the conversations men had with children while reading were more likely to lead to language development.
The reason: the questions they asked. Researchers said men were more likely to ask abstract questions while reading, while women were more likely to ask factual questions. For example: a factual question would be, "what is the hungry caterpillar eating?", while an abstract question would be, "do you remember that time we saw a caterpillar in the backyard?"
Abstract questions are more challenging for children to answer, which leads to the improvement in learning.
