World Book Day 2016 is tomorrow and it always reminds me of
being a child, the one day of the year when everyone around me would celebrate
and adore books as much as I did. I doubt I ever knew the full influence
reading had over me some twenty-odd years ago, but what I did know was that
nothing else was ever as exciting or inspiring as reading a book with my
parents.
Everyone knows reading to their child is an important part
of early development. When working as a babysitter, this was always the
highlight of their evening and of mine – watching their faces light up as we
brought a story to life together. Sometimes I would read their favourite books,
and sometimes they would read aloud the books their school had given them. I’d
ask them the next time I saw them how far they’d read and what I had missed in
the story, and it’s astonishing how much they’d learn just by reading.
Less people know how important it is to keep reading to your
children even as they get older. In a study by Scholastic (“Kids & FamilyReading Report”) it was
found that 83% of parents stopped reading to their child before the age of 11,
with 75% of those parents saying they’d stopped because their child was old enough
to read alone. And yet the same study found that 83% of children as old as 17,
loved to be read aloud to. Somewhere along the way, the message is getting lost
that reading out loud to your children continues to be beneficial long into
their teenage years.
Here’s our shortlist of reasons why reading to your children
is so important, whatever their age:
1. Building
Awareness of the World Around Them
For younger children, this is about experiences they have
not yet had themselves. Books are a tool for you to teach your children how to
(and how not to) respond to the encounters they have. For older children this
is still very much true – books contain life lessons in a format that is much
easier to absorb than a lecture, and reading them together can bring about
discussions that are difficult to have otherwise – about culture, social
issues, emotions and belief.
2. Academic
Advancement
Reading to very young children is one of the most important
ways of teaching them to create sentences and critical enunciation skills as
well as other necessities, such as how to cope with coming to a word you don’t
know how to pronounce (even if you really do).
A strong grasp on language and learning paves the way for a
successful formal education. But for older children, it can be just as
educational. Children don’t read as well as they listen until they are 14 or
15, and reading higher level books will have them mastering a more
sophisticated vocabulary. This can help older children put their thoughts into
words in and out of the classroom. Reading aloud teaches reading skills, and
children who read well also write and communicate well, and do better in
school.
3. Improving
Concentration and Expanding the Mind
Whatever their age, learning to concentrate well is going to
put them at an educational advantage. Being read to develops a strong sense of
self-discipline to stay put for the duration of the story, as well as an improved
attention span and memory that will definitely benefit your child (and maybe
you too!) Reading aloud can ease your child into genres and series that they
never would have considered picking up on their own. Even reading the first
chapter out loud can be enough to inspire your child to pick up a book and
continue it on their own. Get them hooked on reading and you won’t be able to
hold them back.
4. Experiencing
the Joy of Being Told a Story
Verbal Storytelling is the oldest and longest standing method
of learning, from the earliest records of human civilization. The goal of
reading fiction at all is to enjoy it and take what it has to teach to heart.
Struggling readers of all ages especially love to listen, as it takes out the
frustration of understanding the words themselves. Audiobooks are also
fantastic for readers who need that extra push to enjoy stories and in time,
they will learn to understand difficult words on their own. But recordings too
are missing the one thing that reading aloud to your child will never fail to
do…
5. Bringing
You and Your Child Together
The physical closeness of reading together is something
anyone of any age can enjoy. At any age, reading aloud to your children can
provide a sense of security and belonging just from being close to them.
Especially as they get older, when the world becomes bigger and more confusing
than ever. Children can be so full of energy (and sometimes attitude) that
reading time allows everyone to slow down and relax, and continue to relish that
closeness you enjoyed when they were a baby. It’s no secret that these moments
dwindle the older children get – but the longer you continue to read aloud, the
more of this precious time you’ll share together.
Hopefully this has inspired you to pick up a book to read
with your child this World Book Day! If you need a little nudge in the right
direction, here’s a couple of titles I enjoyed having read to me when I was
younger (which I probably never would have picked up on my own!):
- Boy by Roald Dahl – this is Dahl’s first autobiographical book, telling – in his famous comedic style – the story of his life from birth to leaving school.
- Northern Lights by Philip Pullman – the story of a parallel universe where a smart young girl and her sentient animal spirit head to the arctic to rescue her uncle and her friend from a treacherous experiment
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee – an infamous southern gothic by one of history’s most influential writers (rest her soul) that touches on hard-hitting issues in a gentle and humorous tone
- Holes by Louis Sachar – a mystery comedy, which is a fantastic sub-genre for young adults – about a boy who is wrongly convicted of stealing shoes and sent to a juvenile camp and made to dig holes all day to find an undisclosed treasure.
This post by Lauren Bowman.
We offer a wide range of services and expert advice on your child's education.
Email consultants@independenteducationconsultants.co.uk or contact Claire on 01865 522066 for an informal discussion on how we can help.
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