Read Aloud to Your Child!

Did you know that it’s never too early to start reading to your child? You can start reading to your child while it is still in the womb. According to Jim Trelease in his book, The Read Aloud Handbook, reading aloud to your child is one of the best things you can do for them. When children hear language, they will have the best chance of acquiring the best language skills. Even reading nursery rhymes will help your child because children who cannot rhyme typically have reading problems down the road. Make sure your kids have lots of books! Having access to books is one of the most important things. Books contain lots of vocabulary your child may not recognize yet. Children will ask you to identify words they don’t know the meaning of, which will build on their vocabulary. When you are reading aloud to your child, let them follow along with the text. After, have a book discussion. Trelease says that, “discussion after the story is of critical importance but it doesn’t have to last forever.” Having discussion with your child after reading allows them to feel like reading is a social experience, not a chore. It allows the children to speak about their feelings about the book and its characters. In addition, one of the best indicators for becoming successful not just in school but in life, is being a proficient reader. People who succeed economically and socially have been connected with proficient readers. However, it’s not all about just making your kid a good reader. You want your child to want to read. If they see you reading books, if they hear you reading to them, all of these things help that. If you take one thing away from this, know that reading to your child is one of the best things you can do for them.