The Power of Reading Aloud To Your Kids

Spending quality time with your kids does not always require much money from your pockets to bring them to movies, malls, or amusement parks. All you need to do is grab a book and read a story to them.

Reading aloud to kids gives many tangible benefits to all children of all ages. It provides them opportunities to strengthen their vocabulary and to increase their attention span. Aside from the intangible benefits, don’t count out also the amazement and pleasure in the faces of the kids every time they hear stories.

Here are some of the benefits of reading aloud to your kids:

PROVIDES ENJOYMENT.

Children enjoy listening to stories. They usually find reading aloud or bedtime stories fun and enjoyable. This activity can also serve as a perfect bonding opportunity between parents and children.

INCREASES ATTENTION SPAN.

Since the unfolding of events in a read aloud is slower, kids tend to pay more attention and concentrate as the story is being read out loud to them. This, in turn, helps increase their focus.

STRENGTHEN COGNITION.

Through reading aloud, kids learn about the structure of stories – the beginning, middle, and end. They also encounter different types of conflicts and possible solutions. Also, every story carries with it a moral and struggle that can help kids develop empathy or see other’s perspectives.

DEVELOPS STRONGER VOCABULARY.

Children first learn words by listening. When you read aloud to your kids, you are building a massive warehouse of words and grammatically correct sentences. Do take note that according to studies, your child’s vocabulary is a strong indicator of how he/she will succeed in his/her studies.

PROVIDES A SAFE WAY OF PROMOTING ONE’S EMOTIONS.

Through the stories being read to your child, you can explore particular feelings from the story and thus this discussion will help your kid have a broader perspective in handling emotions as compared to his/her peers whose exposure to books and read aloud is too limited.

No matter how busy you are with your work, always find time to read a story to your child. Consider that routine as your bonding and wanting to spend more quality time together. That simple activity which you share with your kids will have a considerable impact as they navigate to the world as they grow older.

Start tonight! Get that book which you think your child will enjoy and read out the stories aloud.

“People would stand in line for days and pay hundreds of dollars if there were a pill that could do everything for a child that reading aloud does. It expands their interest in books, vocabulary, comprehension, grammar, and attention span. Simply put, it’s a free ‘oral vaccine’ for literacy.” —Jim Trelease, The Read-Aloud Handbook