A treasured childhood experience is being read aloud to by one’s parent(s). 83% of children who are or have been read aloud to say they either “loved it” or “liked” it and even more said it was a “special time” with their parent. This alone is a wonderful reason to snuggle up on the couch with your child, open the pages of the book and explore together!
“A tsunami of neurochemical benefits gets unleashed when a parent and child cuddle over a book. Stress and anxiety downshift, for starters. As soon as the parent puts his or her arms around the child, hormones flood their bloodstreams, relaxing them and engendering mutual trust. “ Susan Pinker
But, did you know that research indicates that reading aloud to your child is the single most important thing you can do to help your child prepare for reading and learning? (Source.)
About 43% of parents in the United States read aloud to their children before the age of three months and 77% of parents read aloud to their child before their first birthday. Unfortunately, beginning at about the age of 6, the read aloud statistics drastically drop as most parents believe that as children become independent readers, they don’t “need” to be read to. However, studies done indicate the importance of continuing to read aloud to children after kindergarten, as it is a key factor in “predicting whether or not children ages 6-11 will be frequent readers.” (Source.)
The organization “Read Aloud 15 Minutes” is dedicated to encouraging parents of children of all ages to spend at least 15 minutes a day reading aloud, as it is perhaps the most important thing you can do to invest into your child’s reading and learning journey!
QUICK FACTS ABOUT BRAIN DEVELOPMENT, LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND READING ALOUD
Did you know . . . ?
- The American Academy of Pediatrics says that reading aloud to your child, beginning at birth, enhances parent-child bonding and prepares your baby’s brain for language and literacy skills.
- The fastest period of brain growth is the first few years of life; the number of synapses per neuron starts at 2,400 and builds up to 15,000 synapses per neuron at age 2 or 3! Their brains make nearly 1 million neural connections per second!
- Children, on average, quadruple the number of words they know between ages 1-2
- The number of words that a child knows on entering kindergarten is a key predictor of his or her future success (per a 2003 study conducted by Hart and Risley)
- Reading aloud builds vocabulary, phonics, familiarity with the printed word, storytelling, comprehension, good listening habits and concentration
- If you read aloud just 15 minutes a day every day for 5 years, that is 27,375 minutes or 456.25 hours!
- A child who is read to at least 15 minutes a day will hear nearly 30 million more words than their peers before the age of four!
- Books contain 50% more words than children are likely to hear from other sources, including conversation, daily interactions with caregivers/peers and from the TV
- Research indicates that reading increases empathy; when we introduce our children to stories with diverse settings, characters, and experiences, it builds their connection not just to fictional characters but to people in real life! (Source.) “A good book is an empathy machine,” says Chris Riddell.
- Reading aloud builds spoken communication skills: as your child hears the rhythm, cadence and intonation of the words you speak aloud, you are modeling the fluency, expression, language patterns and grammar required for spoken language. Independent reading does not teach these essential communication skills. Remember, your child never “out-grows” read aloud time!
MAKE READING ALOUD PART OF YOUR DAILY ROUTINE
Reading aloud is often something parents want to do, but in the midst of work, school, extracurricular activities and life in general, it’s easy to think of it as just one more thing that you are “supposed” to do (and one more thing to feel guilty about not getting done).
The question is, can you give your child just 15 minutes of read-aloud time a day? If you can make it a priority and part of your daily routine, it will soon become a treasured bonding time with your child.
If you’re struggling to find time to read aloud, try:
- Before bedtime and/or naptime
- When your child is over-stimulated and needs some “quiet time”
- In the mornings, when your child wakes up and needs a little “snuggle” time before the day gets started
- In waiting rooms or while waiting for an older sibling’s sports/extracurricular activities to finish
- Listening to audio books together to and from school or after school activities is another creative approach to building in “read aloud” time!
READ ALOUD TIPS
For Infants & Toddlers
- Introduce board books during infancy — particularly well loved are books with high contrast graphics (black and white images for very young infants) and those with photographs of real objects and experiences.
- Read slowly and vary your tone, inflection and make sound effects when fitting! Include facial expressions, as your infant will at first be more fascinated with your face than the pictures in the book!
- Mimicry is an important part of the read-aloud experience with infants. If your baby makes cooing sounds, they may be trying to mimic you. To encourage them, you can also repeat back the sounds they made!
- Introduce picture books with simple stories around 6-12 months of age; even if your baby doesn’t understand the story, they still benefit from hearing the rhythm of language!
For All Ages
- Make a variety of books accessible to your child and in a variety of locations: living room, bedrooms, dining table, in the car, in a backpack or purse.
- Make regular trips to the library and allow your child to choose what books they want to bring home.
- Let your child see you reading books! They are eager for experiences that they see their caregivers engaged in.
- Read aloud an assortment of books – ones that provide new words and experiences as well as exposure to different cultures and parts of our world
- Introduce audio books by first choosing books that are accompanied by audio, so your child can follow along with the pictures.
- A child’s receptive vocabulary (what he comprehends by hearing or reading) may be as many as 3 years ahead of his expressive vocabulary (what he can say). Introduce chapter books younger than you think – you can begin reading chapter books aloud to your child when they are as young as three years old. As you continue reading aloud through the elementary years, choose books that are above his own reading level!
READING ALOUD IN OUR CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT
Our classrooms are filled with literacy materials and constant exposure to a variety of books and language! From our Infant and Toddler Communities up to our Children’s House (preschool) classrooms, reading aloud is an important part of the daily life of our classrooms. Teachers read books aloud during morning circle times, as well as during afternoon programming. There are also opportunities for small group read-aloud during the work cycle, as well as peer-to-peer read aloud opportunities (these are wonderful times for older classroom friends to practice their reading skills with a younger friend).
