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3 Tips for Reading Aloud with your Children
The merits of reading aloud with your children are undeniable: it strengthens their imagination, helps them with their reading comprehension, expands to vocabulary; the list goes on.
It is not just younger children who can benefit from reading aloud; older children also learn a lot when you read aloud with them! Studies have shown that although 83%of children aged 6-17 say they enjoy being read to, only 17% of parents with children aged 9-11 actually continue to read aloud to their children.
Here are three helpful tips to make the reading aloud experience more fun for both you and your children.
01
CHANNEL YOUR INNER ACTOR
Remember – children have different attention spans from adults. Be sure to check-in with your children from time to time and see if they are still interested in the reading process. Do not feel like you need to finish a book from start to finish for it to count; if your children seem a little too distracted today, read a couple of pages and then come back to it tomorrow! If your children want to take the story a different direction, do not be afraid to go along with where their imagination takes them to! We want our children to feel like reading is fun, not like it is a chore.
Do not be afraid to let your children take charge from time to time – make sure to let your children read certain words or sentences.
02
LET YOUR CHILDREN READ
Too often, when reading aloud, parents feel the need to take on the bulk of the reading. Do not be afraid to let your children take charge from time to time – make sure to let your children read certain words or sentences. If your children are feeling up to the task, maybe you can alternate reading the pages of the book with them! Making sure your children get a chance to read out loud will not only help your children practice their pronunciation, it will also make them feel like they, too, form an important part of the story-reading process. This can help build your children’s confidence in their abilities.
Remember – children have different attention spans from adults. Be sure to check-in with your children from time to time and see if they are still interested in the reading process. Do not feel like you need to finish a book from start to finish for it to count; if your children seem a little too distracted today, read a couple of pages and then come back to it tomorrow! If your children want to take the story a different direction, do not be afraid to go along with where their imagination takes them to! We want our children to feel like reading is fun, not like it is a chore.
03
LISTEN TO YOUR CHILDREN
Here are some timeless stories that you can read aloud together with your children. Have fun with it!
