We read to children for all the same reasons we talk with children: to reassure, to entertain, to inform or explain, to arouse curiosity, to inspire. According to research, it is never too early to start reading to a child. If a child is old enough to talk to, he or she is old enough to be read to.

 Reading aloud to children is a delightful way to build the foundation of a long relationship. It is also the best way to prepare them to be readers. The “event” of reading aloud should be a ritual in every home. It has been proven that reading aloud to children develops their literacy skills. In addition, children who are read to become much more knowledgeable about the world in which they live. They learn about themselves and others, and they come to understand their environment.

Reading aloud presents children with so much more than an enjoyable story, a funny plot line, or a tear of sympathy. It is the key to the door of the world. As parents, you can help your kindergartner take the first steps in learning to read and write.

Without question the single most important and helpful thing you can do is to set aside fifteen or twenty minutes regularly, daily if possible, to read aloud to your child.

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The Why

Reading to Young Children Helps Develop Their Literacy Skills.

When we read daily to young children we help them develop the following important literacy attitudes and skills:

•    We, most importantly, teach them the joys of reading! We motivate them to want to learn to read and to enjoy literature.

•    We teach them important lessons about print, long before they will learn to read. For example, children notice what some letters look like, and they notice that we move from left to right and top to bottom as we read.

•    We talk with them about what we are reading and thereby teach them to understand “book language”, which may be different from the spoken language that most young children hear.

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Reading to Young Children Provides Them With Speech Models, Research has shown a positive relationship between children’s levels of verbal ability and their early experiences with literature.

•    Children become familiar with sentence patterns and word arrangements.

•    Reading to young children provides examples of pronunciation and language rhythms.

•    Hearing quality literature enables children to improve their vocabularies. Children who are read to alot, are better conversationalists. They understand many more words because they have heard those words used in stories. When they speak they borrow words and expressions from stories they have heard. They often imitate wording from books in their writing as well. They try to spell “The End” or they fill a paper with pretend writing that moves from left to right and top to bottom just like the words in books.  

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Reading to Young Children Helps Them Learn About the World Beyond.

Our experiences in reading to young children show us that the value of reading to children extends far beyond the development of literacy skills. Children who are read to become much more knowledgeable about the world in which they live. They learn about themselves by relating their personal experiences to those of others. Children learn about others either by walking in someone else’s shoes or simply by caring about someone else. Books can teach children about people and places beyond their immediate lives. Good literature that helps children understand about others is a great way to teach multi-culturalism to our children.

Reading To Young Children Builds a Very Strong Relationship With Them.

•    We have a storehouse of shared conversations as we have talked about the stories.

•    We have understood one another’s point of view as we have disagreed about what we think would happen in a story.

•    We have common experiences in what made us laugh, what surprised us, or what made us sad because we know the same stories.  

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The How

Read Aloud Activities

Try to set aside a regular time for reading aloud, a time free from other obligations or distractions. Some parents choose bedtime for reading aloud. They feel reading will relax their child and help them to fall asleep. Others may choose a read aloud time for either after dinner or after finishing homework.

When you read aloud, don’t feel embarrassed about hamming it up a bit. Be expressive; try giving different characters different voices. The adult reader must enjoy the experience for it to be maximally effective. It’s important that you like the books you share with your child. If you don’t like the book you are reading aloud, either pick another book you do like, or quickly take some acting classes. Sounding disinterested or as if you are going through the motions will be detected and detract from the experience for your child.

When you read aloud, most of the time your child will be involved in the simple pleasure of listening. At other times you can involve your child in some additional activities to encourage comprehension and interest. You may choose some of the following activities for you and your child to share in and have fun together with.

•     Let your child look through the book before you read it. Let him skim the pages and look at the pictures.

•     Direct your child’s attention to the book’s title page. Discuss what the words “author” and “illustrator” mean, and what authors and illustrators do. As you read more and more books, talk with your child about his favorite authors or illustrators. Look in the library for more works by your child’s favorite authors or illustrators.

•     Sometimes let your child pick the books for reading aloud. If your child has picked a book or books from the library he may soon learn the lesson that “you can’t tell a book by its cover.” If you begin a book that he has chosen and he expresses dislike or lack of interest, don’t force him to finish hearing it. Just put the book aside.

•     As you read, run your finger below the words as you say them. This will help your child associate spoken words with written words, and also expose him to the left-to-right direction of print.

•     After reading a story, discuss the sequence of events. “Can you tell me what happened first? What did he do next?”

•     After reading a segment of a longer book, help your child recall details by asking questions. Keep in mind the five W’s: Who? What? When? Where? Why?

•     Engage your child in a discussion of the story by asking questions that go beyond recall of details. Encourage him to use critical thinking skills that will stimulate creative interpretations.

•     Children often have favorite books that they want to hear again and again. Occasionally, when you reread a beloved and familiar story, pause and let your child supply the next word or words from memory. For example, when you say the words of the Big Bad Wolf-”Little pig, little pig, let me come in!”-let him continue: “Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin.”

•     Help your child memorize a nursery rhyme.

•     Act out a story or scenes from a story. Your child doesn’t need to memorize a set script; he can use his own language to express a character’s thoughts.

•     Read a rhyming poem aloud to your child. Then reread it and emphasize the rhyming words. Read the poem again and ask your child to “fill in the blank” with the rhyming word.

•     Discuss humorous or interesting parts of a story. Does the story remind your child of anything in his real life?

It is extremely important to have conversation during read aloud. Talk about the book before reading it, balance conversation to keep the story going, talk to support your child’s comprehension of the story, and talk after reading the story. The interaction between the adult reader and the child is critical to the success of the experience. The conversations that are stimulated by the stories shared create a bond that only those two people can share. Don’t just ask, “Did you like the story?” State, “I’m surprised at the way the story ended.” “What is your feeling about it?” You can both share your personal interpretations of the story and appreciate your differences.

The What

Selecting Appropriate Materials

In reading aloud, you can offer your child a rich and varied selection of literature, including poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Good literature brings language to life and offers children new worlds of adventure, knowledge, and humor. Make sure the readings are interesting and exciting enough to hold their interest while you are building up their imaginations. Keep the initial readings short enough to fit their attention spans.

Know your child. Developmental guidelines provide an outline for the selection of age or developmentally appropriate books to read aloud. However, parents know best the preferences of their child. Because it is so very important to please children while reading aloud, one must repeat successes and find books like the ones your child has enjoyed in the past. Maybe your child has a favorite author, or is interested in a particular subject. Is there a certain type of book that you know would appeal to your child?

Choose books that were created to be read aloud. Good read alouds have language that sings with words that seem to bounce off the page. The best books for the very youngest children are rhyming and rhythmic. Even as children grow older, and more sophisticated stories become appropriate, the rhythm of good books for reading aloud remains essential.

Read from a rich variety of books.

•    Picture Storybooks - Children learn to understand these stories through both pictures and words. In the finest picture storybooks, the pictures explain and add to the words.

•    Folktales and Fairy Tales - These stories have been passed down to us primarily by being told rather than read. Fortunately, many gifted writers and illustrators are retelling tales, such as, “Little Red Riding Hood”, and “Jack and the Beanstalk.”

•    Play Books - Some books are designed for children to play with as well as to tell a story. Scratch and Sniff, and Lift-the-Flap books are examples of these.

•    Wordless Books - These are actually storybooks, but the stories are told by the pictures. We “read” these books by reading the pictures.

•    Predictable Stories - Children are likely to join in as we read them these kinds of stories because they can figure out which words will come next. Sometimes this is because of rhyming words and sometimes because certain words or phrases are repeated. These are important books for preschoolers to experience, since they provide opportunities for pretending to read.

•    Concept and Informational Books. We sometimes think of these as books designed to teach children something, for example, the alphabet or numbers. However, many concept books present concepts within a storybook or other interesting format. Be certain that you have a range of informational books available to your child: books about colors, numbers, letters, people, animals, machines, history, seasons, art, music, etc. We want to expose children to a broad range of ideas.

•    Songs, Poetry, and Nursery Rhymes. It is the rhythm, rhyme, and predictability of songs, poetry, and nursery rhymes that make them good subjects for children’s read alouds. They make language attractive and exciting for young children.