Reading Aloud Improves Literacy Development

Do you remember reading with your family before bed as a child? The memories of this special time with each other stays in our memory as we grow older. A report from the Scholastic Corporation affirms that more than 80% of kids and parents across all income levels love or like their read-aloud time a lot because this practice strengths their relationship. But the power of reading aloud goes beyond the pleasure of sharing the enjoyment of a good book. Here four benefits of reading aloud to children: 

read aloud childrenA better understanding of the world

Every time you read aloud to your child; it basically provides them with background information on their young world so they can make sense of what they perceive through their five senses.

Improved imagination, concentration, and listening

Very young children rarely sit still for long, and it is difficult to get them to focus on one thing. However, reading aloud helps build attention span. With a regular routine, children can learn to enjoy the slower pace of a story and will understand that all tales have a journey to be told; a beginning, a middle, and an end. Story-time also sparks children’s imaginations as they can explore new people, places, times, and events.

Developed literacy and language skills 

Storybooks are filled with rich descriptive language. The more words a child hears, the wider their vocabulary becomes. Being read to teaches children about fluency in speech patterns too. It teaches them that sounds make words, words make sentences and sentences make stories. It demonstrates how to structure their own stories. All this leads them to eventually understand and interpret what they are reading.  

read aloud children2Prepare for academic success

The routine of reading to a child aloud daily is the single best way to improve their reading ability and more generally their academic performance. Children who struggle with reading will also come late to mathematics, history, and other subjects at school which can exponentially damage their academic growth. Therefore, it is vital that parents read to children from a young age, so they can understand and comprehend the new and varied information they will become exposed to when they get to school.  In the World Literacy Foundation, we acknowledge that the benefits are countless when it comes to reading to children but also, we know that some children have limited reading support at home or school due to their geographical location or socioeconomic conditions. That’s why we focus our work on providing disadvantaged children with literacy services such as read aloud sessions in Colombia, Australia, and the United States.

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