The Imagination Library and BEGIN WITH BOOKS encourage parents to read aloud 15 minutes every day. These 15 minutes could be one of the greatest gifts you give your child. Reading aloud promotes language development and builds the skills needed to learn to read and arrive in kindergarten ready to learn. But that’s not all. By establishing a regular reading habit, you are also building your child’s emotional resilience and giving them the gift of self-regulation. What do we mean by self-regulation? Self-regulation is the ability to manage our emotions and deal with life’s challenges in healthy and predictable ways. We develop self-regulation skills through the build ing of the neura l pathways that make up our stress-response system. Children who grow up in stable households, with loving and attentive caregivers, have an easier time regulating their emotions. This, in turn, makes it easier for them to make new friends and get along with others in school and other social settin