Reading Matters!
The Importance of Reading Aloud
It has been proven through research and practice that reading aloud is the best way to prepare children for learning to read and to maintain their interest in reading as they learn and grow. It reassures, entertains, informs, encourages, and arouses curiosity. Reading aloud helps children develop the language skills that they will use in school and throughout their lives.
The National Institute for Literacy (2006) found the following: “In a study of kindergartners, those who were read to at least three times a week as they entered kindergarten were almost twice as likely to score in the top 25 percent of literacy tests than children who were read to less than three times a week.”
The importance of reading to children is considerable in child development. The early years of a child’s life are the most critical to her development. When you read aloud to an infant, you are introducing her to syllables and sounds that make up words. She will use these syllables and sounds to build words and develop speaking skills. The more words a child is exposed to the more language skills she will develop.
Words are a primary structure for learning. There are basically two ways that the brain can experience words – through the ears and eyes. Young children must largely rely on their ears to build their intellect. The words they hear will help them make sense of the words they will see with their eyes as they themselves learn to read. Frequent read aloud sessions with a child introduce that child to a broad spectrum of words. These words will someday be read by the child herself and the child will be more likely to understand what she reads. The more words a child understands, the more language skills a child will possess. This will give the child more advantages educationally and socially for the rest of her life. The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study found that of the children who were read to...