By Ryan Spencer, Dymocks Literacy Expert and State Director of the Australian Literacy Educator’s Association
Learning to read is such an important skill for children to learn because literacy is key to opening up choices in life. However, just like writing, learning to read is a complicated, developmental process. As a result, different children progress in their reading development at varying paces.
So how can parents play a role in helping their children with reading? The answer is simple – read aloud to your child every day.
Research shows that when preschool children are frequently read to, their brain areas supporting comprehension and mental imagery are highly engaged. Studies also reveal that this helps with the development of reading skills, such as word recognition, when they start to learn to read.
If you need more convincing, here are four additional benefits of reading aloud to your children every day.
1. Helps children with comprehension
The nature of reading is all about making meaning. As adults, if we come across something we don’t quite understand while reading, often we tend to go back and reread the text. This is a vital skill that we need to encourage in our children to help them become self-sufficient readers. Reading aloud provides the means by which to clearly talk about what is happening in the book and to practise this rereading skill. In your daily reading sessions, engage your child with discussions during and after reading to clarify what you have just read.
2. Boosts vocabulary knowledge
Vocabulary lessons are taught at school, though, that’s not to say parents can’t play a part to help their children expand vocabulary knowledge at home. One of the most effective ways to learn new words is by reading favourite books aloud. Before reading the book for the first time, flick through the pages with your child and spot interesting words your child might not have seen before. Talk about what these words mean and where they may have seen them before. Refer to these ‘new words’ when you go out and use them in daily conversations to help your child remember them. Ultimately, the more words that children know when reading independently, the more they’ll enjoy what they’re reading.
3. Helps improve fluency
When parents read aloud to their children, they are essentially modelling good reading behaviours for the child to learn and adopt. This is a great way for a child to establish a sense of the speed and prosody that is essential to fluent reading. If you want to help your child hear themselves as a fluent reader, take it in turns reading a sentence, such as in the style of echo reading, where you might read a sentence or a page first, then your child repeats the same part. Reading in this way with your children can also help them to better understand the meaning of the story.
4. Great way to bond as a family
There’s nothing quite like the joy of settling in with your little one and sharing a much-loved story. This precious time together is a great way to bond as a family, and it can also have a profound effect on your child’s social, interpersonal and literacy skills. The latest findings from the 2015 Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report shows that 86% of Australian kids aged 6-17 enjoy being read aloud to – the main reason being because it is a special time with parents. Of those children aged 6-8 whose parents no longer read books aloud at home, half (51%) did not want their parents to stop. Reading together really is an act of love!
Ready to start reading with your little ones? Choose from the best selection in Dymocks Children Reading Guide.
