Read to Your Children....Please!

"Will you please read to me?" This question echoes through homes everywhere. Too often, adults pass off this activity as being a frivolous pastime, less important than doing supper dishes or getting another load of laundry done. Far more than simply a way to occupy a bored child, reading out loud is a vital part of the process of learning to read! Children who are read to early and often develop into more efficient readers and are more likely to become avid readers themselves. They gain skills vital for school success, such as the ability to listen, connect concepts, and analyze information. Reading aloud builds the attention span and nurtures important language skills. Studies have shown that the amount and quality of book sharing that parents do with children is the single most accurate indicator of later school success levels. So all that's left is how to begin. Here are some suggestions:

•Start Now!

Children begin to learn language at birth. Some experts even believe that language begins to develop BEFORE birth! As soon as your child is born, he or she begins to understand language. All that's missing is the experience and the practice. Therefore, it is very important to talk to your baby as much as possible. Only by having a multitude of experiences with language can your child learn to "decode" the communications of those around him or her. Reading aloud to your baby provides not only the sound of a human voice, but lots of examples of different styles of communication.

It's not too late to start even if your child is past infancy, though. You will still be offering new concepts and ideas, still building those listening and comprehension skills and still nurturing language and vocabulary. There's no such thing as a child that is too old to be read to.

•Read Everything

Infants and young children respond well to rhythms and poetry, but even if you read a magazine article to your baby, you will be accomplishing your goal of exposure to language. This can be a great way to keep reading in your life when your child is very young, too. Your baby will respond to and be soothed by the sound of your voice and you can catch up on those magazine articles or that novel that you've been wanting to read.