Teach Your Child to Read by Reading Aloud

Most parents are looking for ways to teach their child to read, there are many programs on the market and infinite ways a parent can spend a lot of money on reading materials, but one of the most effective and low cost ways to teach reading is simply by reading aloud to your child.

I believe that some parents think that the more money they spend on reading programs the better the chance their child will have to learn to read. There is a notion that to teach a child to read requires materials such as video tapes, DVD's, workbooks, phonics cards or any of the myriad of items and activities that can be found to teach reading. While I do not find these reading materials and activities within themselves to be bad, my point being is initially teaching a child to read can be successfully accomplished by reading aloud to the child.

Reading aloud does teach reading and there are published studies that show that one of the greatest predictor of children's later success in reading is in correlation with the amount of stories children listen to. Research is so important and one of the fastest ways to find research is by searching the internet, valid data and studies can be found that confirm reading aloud to your child teaches them reading skills.

There are numerous reading skills being taught when you read aloud to your child:

New Vocabulary

Children learn new vocabulary when they are being reading aloud to, a child who listens to stories may hear new words that they are unfamiliar with and may even question what the word means thus evoking conversation between the parent and child.

Expands World Experiences

Parents who read aloud to their child help their child to learn about places and circumstances that may not be directly related to their own limited world experiences. Reading aloud exposes a child to information and thoughts that the child may not have the capability to read about on his/her own. Thus reading aloud can make a child more well-informed.

Differentiates Conversational Language and Print Language

There is a difference between the way humans talk and the more complicated language of print. When a child understands the characteristics of each language, he or she can typically comprehend their reading better and also write better. Reading aloud to your child is an excellent way to teach these strategies.

See How Print Works

It is especially important when a beginning reader is learning to read that not only the parent read aloud to their child but also that the parent points to each word as he/she is reading aloud to their child. Children become familiar with the idea of each word carrying meaning and those words within a sentence together carry an idea.

Sounding Out Words

One of the strategies to teach a child to read is for the child to learn how to sound out words. A parent who reads loud to their child is giving the child the opportunity to hear how letters and word sounds work together and their correlation within the text.

Feeling Confident

Sometimes nothing can be scarier for a child than having to read a text by themselves or even worse having to read the text aloud. When a child is struggling with reading, a great way for a parent to make the child feel safe and possibly encourage a love of books is for the parent to read aloud to their child. Reading aloud to your child helps to build their reading confidence and enjoy books more.

Better Listening

When a parent reads aloud to their child, it can help the child develop their listening skills. An important aspect of a child learning to read is for the child to have adequate listening skills, listening and teaching reading go hand-in-hand.

Teaching your child to read may seem simple and it can be as long as the child has a good foundation. Reading aloud is an excellent strategy to build that literacy foundation and allow your child to expand on life long reading success!

Sources:

Self-experiences