Why Read Aloud?
When my children were in elementary school, parents regularly asked me, “how did you get your kids to become readers?”
Answer: I read to them.
Now, I acknowledge that this seems like an overly simplistic response to a very complicated question, but it’s the truth.
We were definitely fortunate not to have received any diagnoses that indicated reading impairments, so I acknowledge that my basic tips are not a solution for everyone.
But they are a beginning.
Read on to discover why reading aloud impacts the reader your child becomes.
Phonemic Awareness: The Sounds of Language👂
Reading to your children helps them develop phonemic awareness—the ability to recognize and manipulate the individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. Phonemic awareness is a critical skill for learning to read because it enables children to understand that words are made up of smaller sound units. This understanding is essential for decoding words, a process that lies at the heart of reading. Early reading assessment (and the need for intervention) often targets phonemic awareness.
Research conducted by the National Reading Panel (2000) found that children who are exposed to rich oral language experiences, including being read to, develop stronger phonemic awareness.
These children are better equipped to recognize and differentiate between sounds, which is a crucial step in learning to read. By engaging in activities like reading aloud, parents help their children tune into the sounds of language, making the process of learning to read smoother and more intuitive.
Reading aloud to your kids helps them hear the sounds that make up the words, and as they recognize those sounds, they learn to find them again in other words, thus helping them to understand the phone to letter correspondence that’s critical for learning to read.
Building Vocabulary 🏗️
Another significant benefit of reading to your children is the expansion of their vocabularies. Research has consistently shown that children who are regularly read to are exposed to a wider range of words and complex sentence structures than they would encounter in everyday conversations. This exposure is crucial because vocabulary is directly linked to a child’s ability to understand and express themselves.
According to a study by Hart and Risley (1995), children who were read to and engaged in more conversations had larger vocabularies by the age of three compared to those who were not as frequently exposed to language. The study highlighted that the quantity and quality of words children hear in their early years have a profound impact on their language development. These early language skills are critical for later success in reading and writing, as they form the foundation upon which children build their understanding of more complex texts and ideas.
So talking to your kids and reading to them provides them with the building blocks of language which helps them become critical readers and thinkers.
Print Awareness 📚
Reading to your children also introduces them to print awareness—understanding how books work. As you lift up the book to show them the front cover, they learn that books work from front to back. Open the first page and show them where you are beginning, and they learn that text is read from left to right and top to bottom. Show them individual letters on a page, or if they know a letter, prompt them to find it on the page, and you are teaching them that words are made up of letters.
In the process, they will begin to recognize letters and associate them with sounds, which is a precursor to learning to read independently. According to research by Whitehurst and Lonigan (1998), early literacy activities like shared reading significantly enhance children’s understanding of the conventions of print, which are crucial for developing reading fluency.
Story Structure ↔️
Reading to children also enforces the concept of story structure.Through repeated exposure to stories, children learn that narratives have a beginning, middle, and end, which helps them understand the flow of events and the concept of cause and effect. This understanding of story structure is important not just for reading comprehension but also for critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
Exposure to story structure also helps nascent readers develop their writing skills. What happened first, next, and finally? Where did it happen? Who did it happen to? By reading stories aloud, you can prompt your children to recognize the basics so that they will be better able to answer the questions: Why did it happen? What can we learn from it?
Laying the Groundwork for Success 🚧
Reading to your children is more than just an enjoyable activity; it is an investment in their future. By reading aloud, you are exposing your child to a rich language environment, fostering their vocabulary growth, enhancing their phonemic awareness, and helping them understand the structure of stories and books. These early literacy skills are foundational for later academic success and lifelong learning.
As parents, the time you spend reading to your children is invaluable. It not only strengthens your bond but also provides them with the tools they need to become confident and capable readers. So, make reading a daily habit—it’s one of the most important gifts you can give to your child.
