> The emotional bonding and physical closeness, Hutton says, were missing. So were the exchanges known as "dialogic reading," where caregivers point out specifi

> The emotional bonding and physical closeness, Hutton says, were missing. So were the exchanges known as "dialogic reading," where caregivers point out specific words or prompt children to "show me the cat?" in a picture. "That's a whole other layer," of building reading Hutton says. While I absolutely agree that the emotional bond is one of the biggest parts of the experience I don’t think it has to be limited to reading. For example, my daughter will sometimes sit on the couch next to me and watch YouTube or play mobile games and tell me about what she’s watching or playing. I’ll also ask her what she’s doing and try to add some context or have her show me what she’s interested in. She also shows me stuff she thinks is hilarious and we can laugh about it together. We do read together before bedtime, but I think overall just the fact that she gets those small moments of connection even while her head is in her screen makes a difference.