Help Your Child Succeed in School!

It's reading aloud! 

For very young children, studies have shown that picture books provide the perfect amount of input for their brains to process. Stories told with no pictures causes too much time to be spent trying to understand the story. Stories told with video, or interactive ebooks, provide too much stimulation and their brains are overwhelmed. But picture books provide just the perfect amount - the pictures help them follow the story without being too much. Here's an interesting article from Motherly Reading that explains this finding more:

It's science: Picture books are best for little brains

 

Among other things, reading to young children teaches them vocabulary. There are only two ways for children to learn new words, by hearing them, and by reading them. Your children are learning words for years before they start to read, but written vocabulary is much more varied than our spoken language. By reading to your child, and discussing what you're reading, you'll be providing them with a richer vocabulary than everyday conversation. By the time a child starts school, those who've parents have read to them have been exposed to millions more words than the children whose parents don't read aloud. That puts children in the first group at a significant advantage as they start school. 

Here's an interesting article from CNN about the importance of reading to children and its effect on their brains: 

This is your child's brain on books vs screen time

 

But what if your children are already in school? Is it too late to start the habit of reading aloud?

No! 

Even parents who read to their small children frequently often stop once the child is reading independently. But children still benefit enormously from reading with you!

Studies show that students can generally understand a book that's two grade levels higher than their independent reading level. In fact, their reading level doesn't catch up to their listening level until around 8th grade! By reading to your children, you give them an opportunity to enjoy a story that is too difficult for them to read themselves. This serves an advertisement for the great stuff coming for them, just down the road, if they keep reading. 

It can also give you great opportunities to discuss life issues with your children. As fictional characters face difficult circumstances, it can open doors of conversation in your family. 

Here is a brief article, that explains some of the benefits of reading aloud to older children.  

The Importance of Reading Aloud to Big Kids

 

In addition, reading aloud accomplishes things that I haven’t found any other way to do. First, it demonstrates the old adage, “You can’t judge a book by its cover.” I don’t know how many times we started a book that my kids were not enthused about, only to find them hooked and loving it mid-way through. This also teaches kids patience. Maybe the book doesn’t start off with action from the first page but reading together gives the students time to get into it. Too often, students left to their own devices will start a book and drop it when it doesn’t catch them right away. Sometimes that’s okay, of course, but if it’s a regular pattern, the student may never develop the patience for longer, more complex literature.

Remember,

The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children. 

(Jim Trelease, The Read Aloud Handbook.) 

It's never too early, or too late! 

For more information on the benefits of reading aloud and information on how to get started, click the button below!

The Read-Aloud Family: Making Meaningful and Lasting Connections with Your Kids

 

 

 

 

Mrs. Tricia Fraser

tfraser@icsbudapest.org