Reading Aloud
Why Reading Aloud Is So Important
Reading aloud is free, it's simple, it's universal, and it is effective. It gets results. If you want your child to experience the joy of reading, educational success, and a close and healthy bond with you, read aloud! You will become a better parent and contribute to your child's future success. All parents have within them the power to help their children through this simple and effective tool.
What's So Great About Reading Aloud?
Let's start with better brains!
Hearing a story being told or read aloud is the single most neurologically engaging experience that a child can have. The average child watches 15,000 hours of television before starting school, yet this generates only 30 minutes of developmental activity in the brain. Reading aloud fires up a child's brain because the child has to imagine what is going on in the story. This stimulates the brain's electrical system, creating strong pathways and optimum brain development. Further, this is a creative activity that spurs the imagination.
"Imagination, not tool making or feeling for another,
is what separates us from the other primates." --
Jane Goodall
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." --
Albert Einstein
How about language development?
Reading aloud can positively impact a child's school performance. This is because the way we learn language is through hearing it. There are 44 sounds in the English language. Make Way for Ducklings, Goodnight Moon, and Charlotte's Web contain all 44 sounds - as do most other books. We can't speak a word we haven't heard, and we can't write a word when we don't know its meaning. Stories improve vocabulary and introduce children to language patterns and sentence structure. This is the gift of standard English, a gift we can give our children through reading aloud. Reading aloud also develops listening skills and background knowledge about people and places far and wide.
"The single most important activity for building
the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is
reading aloud to children."
Becoming A Nation of Readers, Report of the U. S
Department of Education Committee on Reading
What about Social Benefits?
Stories are life's compass. They help to pass along values and wisdom to our children. If you are going to go to the effort of reading a book to a child, then you will want to pick the best book that you can find. The best children's books, like the best adult books, speak to people's hearts, and deal with important topics - like truth, fairness, courage, compassion, and other subjects that explore what it means to be human and how we can care for each other and do the right thing in a difficult situation.
"Stories give life to past experiences, stories make events in memory memorable to others and to ourselves." -- Roger Schank
Bonding for Success
Studies of at-risk children show that kids who make it in life usually have a bond with a caring adult who can provide support and emotional closeness. How does reading aloud fit into this scenario?
A study published in USA Today in the late 1980's reported that "on average, parents spend less than seven minutes a week talking with their children." It is not possible to bond and have much of a relationship in such little time. Children need actual physical time with their parents. Think about the times your parents spent positive one-on-one time with you. Did that make you feel important, special?
Reading aloud is quality time that you can spend with your child. It can create opportunities for talking and sharing. The best books for children have characters that are real people making important choices, and experiencing strong emotions. You can explore their stories with your child and discuss things that matter on a close emotional level.
"If you don't know the trees you will get lost in the forest, but if you don't know the stories you will get lost in life." -- Siberian Proverb
