Encourage and improve reading skills by reading aloud to your child. Sharing the joy of reading a good book is just one of them.
We've all heard it. "Read to your child." But for most of us, the rhetoric has never been reinforced with a true understanding of why exactly that is important. The truth is, not only do children learn by example, they learn by hearing. When a child spends time relaxing into sleep to the voice and cadence of a beloved parent, they are learning that reading aloud is a demonstration of the caring and love a parent has for his or her child.
There are many benefits to reading aloud to your child. Sharing the joy of reading a good book is just one of them. Even sharing a not-so-good book can have it's benefits. There is nothing that can better demonstrate the acquired skills of decoding and comprehension than watching a parent, teacher or other caregiver put those things into practise. Often, through this example, children pick up the idea that books are not to be read in a flat monotone and that inflection and intonation are as important as being able to read the words. A good deal of preparation for the good public speaker can be charted up to his ability to "deliver" the written word in a manner that is interesting, exciting and dramatic. A good speaker has a flair for theatrics and a good story teller is one who can take a concept and make it come alive.
Now I know, we are not all great Shakespearean actors and our ability to maintain accents and alternate voices may be lacking, but chances are your child will not really notice that so much. Putting on a funny voice will encourage laughter and joy and that, in turn, will encourage the desire to learn to read. Making reading fun makes children want to read.
At the same time, listening to an exciting story delivered in the voice of a parent can help even a high energy child to relax and prepare his brain and body for bed. For many adults, as well as children, the world is a place of incredible stress and the brain responds by putting out a call for high levels of energy to the cells. Placing the child securely in bed and laying beside him (or them) and then taking up a good chapter book to read aloud, demonstrates to the child that books can provide a relief from stress and will encourage the brain to release chemicals for quieting the body and moving into a place of readiness for the sleep state. Not bad for a few minutes of your time.
Here are some tips to think about if you are just beginning a reading program with your child, or even if you have one that has been a part of your schedule for a while but which seems to be floundering.
1. Choose literature which is interesting to you and the child. Save non-fiction works for study time, or for those times when the child is needing to be alert, not relaxing into sleep. Fiction is an escape from reality and we all need a little fantasy in our lives.
2. Read with as much skill and drama as you possible can. Children love to know that you find books fascinating enough to put different voices to the characters. They also learn that different people do talk differently and this makes the story more interesting. Even Dr. Seuss can be exciting if the Cat in the Hat talks with a southern accent and the Fish with a British one. An added benefit is the tolerance children acquire for those who may sound differently than they do. Of course, there is nothing wrong with silly voices for silly characters either and that teaches that laughter is, to coin a phrase, "the best medicine".
3. If the children are of varying ages, don't assume they won't all be interested in the same book. Here at our house, we often read two or three chapters of a juvenile chapter book with children ranging in age from 4 to 10 and the elder ones listen with as much rapture as the younger ones (at least until the little ones fall asleep). Reading chapter books to littler ones gives them the idea that not all books have to have pictures to be entertaining or to have exciting adventures. Most children's literature contains a picture every now and then, and the anticipation of waiting for these can be heightened by the excitement of the reading.
4. Successful reading includes comprehension, so ask your kids what they think might happen next, or if what did happen is what they were anticipating. Stopping here and there to ask questions makes the child part of the reading, not just a passive audience, and it helps their brain to start looking for the sequencing that every story has - a necessary skill in school work in the elementary grades. We all pretty much know, anyway, that there is nothing more fun that trying to guess who done it and how, or why, and questions which encourages comprehension also encourage this anticipation.
5. Try not to limit this special time. Go with the flow. Sometimes you may have plans to read for 15 minutes or half an hour, but the children are still wound up after that period of time. Spend a little more time reading aloud. Reading is soothing and calming. Reading is a good aid to learning self-calming techniques for the future. Be prepared to have a chorus of "more, more" when the time is expired and you are right in the middle of an exciting part. Also recognize that this a time of bonding when your children have your undivided attention and with life the way it is, that may not happen elsewhere in your day. Take joy in the closeness your family can achieve with an extended period of reading each night.
6. Be consistent with the time of your daily reading as much as possible. Children come to enjoy this special time and will miss it greatly if it is not there. Rearrange your daily schedule to fit this important part of bonding and learning into it and see to it that the circumstances are right for them to have this time. One of the added benefits will also be that you will find a quiet oasis in a busy day, and you will eventually reap the harvest of this time of sowing.
