It is important to read aloud to children from an early age. Indeed, it is a practice that brings many benefits for their full development.
Why you should read aloud to your children
Reading is one of the most important activities in a child’s life. Indeed, reading allows him to build his mind. The best gift you can give your children is to start reading aloud to them at an early age. And that’s before they even understand what you’re saying or can read the words themselves.
Then, as your children grow up, you take on the role of listener as they read aloud. They pronounce the words and give meaning to the sentences. Reading has many benefits that don’t always seem obvious at story time. However, they are more important than you might imagine .
When your children are old enough to read on their own, continue to read aloud to them anyway and switch reader-listener roles. The benefits are in both reading and listening to the story. You can read together or take turns reading. Let your child read at school if they wish. Then, in the evening, listen to what he reads to you and also read certain parts to him.
Why should you read aloud to your children?
Here are some of the benefits of reading aloud for your child. This way you can start with a new routine if you haven’t already. Better late than never.
No matter what book you’re reading about, your toddler will be exposed to a lot of vocabulary . Also, it will improve language fluency, even if you don’t notice it right away. This gives him an intellectual head start and will help him to better integrate in school and in life.
Language patterns when reading aloud
When you read to your children, they will listen to good language structures. Also, they will use the grammar, and naturally imitate you.
Children don’t learn verbs, prepositions, conjunctions or adverbs from nowhere. The years of reading give them a vocabulary that will allow them to recognize all of this when they have to study it in school. First, they will have a broader lexicon . But also good oral and grammatical skills.
Develop thinking skills
By reading or listening to stories, children reflect . This is the perfect time to ask them questions about the story. Indeed, it helps to develop their critical thinking .
Thus, he will be able to analyze and give his opinion on various subjects. In addition, he will be able to think of different solutions to the problems that emerge in the story he is reading. With these questions, your child will listen and analyze the content instead of passively listening.
The best way to encourage children to learn to read is to read them stories. The youngest learn from their parents before the others. So if they see you reading, they will want to imitate you and learn to read too.
First, they watch you perform an action (read) and they wish they could do it themselves. In addition, by reading stories to them, they realize the joy and pleasure of reading a story. Therefore, they will quickly want to learn to understand the words themselves.
Reading increases children’s writing skills
First, your child will understand the correct sentence structure. He will therefore be able to use certain parts of oral and written language correctly. Eventually, her increased vocabulary will help her write creatively.
Reading stimulates the imagination. Therefore, your child’s writing will come to life when this imagination appears in their stories.
A moment of family bonding while reading aloud
The time you spend together is precious.
Also, it ensures that you spend quality and uninterrupted time with your children. Indeed, reading generally takes place in a quiet space without distractions. So you can enjoy quality time in peace with your child.
Reading aloud also improves the ability to solve problems
Each story is filled with many opportunities to solve problems. The characters find themselves in all sorts of situations and seek solutions to solve them.
Parents reading aloud to their daughter in bed.
Children already learn to solve problems in their own lives from an early age. However, reading allows them to discover how others solve life’s daily challenges . This allows you to develop your ability to analyze situations and act appropriately.
Ask your children to come up with solutions to the characters’ problems before you finish reading the story. This will stimulate their ability to come up with new ideas.
Also analyze the decisions the characters make and see if your children agree or have alternative endings to the story.
This increases their attention span over time. The more interesting and captivating a book is for a child, the more he will pay attention to it while reading it.
Reading can extend a young person’s overall attention span. This extends to other areas and helps them perform better in school and when participating in activities. In contrast to the negative effects that screens have on the brain, reading stimulates real concentration. Children should listen, read and reflect on what they read or hear.
