Why You Should Read Aloud to Your Children

Children learn so quickly. Young minds less than three years of age start to take in and process information at a surprisingly fast rate. Imagine, as an adult, sitting down with a good book, say Volume 12, N through O of your encyclopedia set. That is the equivalent of what your child's little mind does. Absorbing and sopping up information like the Brawny paper towels of the world, their brain kicks into high gear and doesn't look back for many years to come. It is up to us, as parents or caregivers, to make sure we fill their minds with what they need, and keep out what they do not.

Everyday parental activities, such as reading, singing and being affectionate, all play a vital role in our child's healthy development. However, a number of parents may not read to their children every day. You may ask yourself, does reading to my child really make a difference? If you are not a reader yourself, the answer to this question may surprise you.

One of the most important activities for building the knowledge required for eventual success is reading aloud to our children, especially during the pre-school years. The goal, during this time, is really to engender a love of reading. If we can instill this view early on, it will carry with them throughout their adult life.

While listening to stories read from a book, children learn from a young age that the letters on the page correspond to the words in our spoken vocabulary. They start to make connections; have you ever taught your child the word "and" or "but"? You hear them using these simple words however, do you not? It is not necessary to teach a child every spoken word in your language. The majority of their vocabulary is built though oral reinforcement.

Children also begin to make connections between pictures and words. Children enjoy being read to, and every time we do it, we are helping them associate books with something enjoyable, rather than the opposite opinion, which seems to permeate in this age of electronic gadgetry. Parents who foster a love of books will cultivate in their children a lifelong desire to be readers.

Parents who read aloud are giving their children a valuable gift: knowledge of people, places and things along with an understanding of the world around them. With relatively little expense, they can "travel" the world on the pages of books. Fingertips can steer through any subject imaginable, taking a child's attention and captivating it with every turn of the page. As a result, their first trip to the zoo can be a time of re-discovery. Your child will be happy to be able to proudly point out to you the zebras and lions and giraffes, or marmosets, tapirs, and gila monsters, for the more gifted of our offspring, because he or she has already been introduced to them through books. And the same holds true for any subject.

During the formative years, young children develop attitudes that will influence their actions for years to come. As parents, we need to lay the foundation for a close relationship with our children. Confidence, mutual respect and understanding are all qualities that reading can be instrumental in developing. When parents take the time to hold their children in their arms and read to them, the message is clear: "I love you."

This simple procedure, our children sitting and quietly listening, becomes a familiar setting and can be of benefit to both parent and child at other times. If we have successfully developed a friendly, non-threatening environment of one on one quality time, our children will feel free to take advantage of this and talk to us about other things. Trying to get our children to open up with us about their feelings and concerns, especially as they grow older, is a challenge.

It's not just the birds and the bees anymore. More like hawks & wasps. It's the dangers on MySpace and Facebook, the social networking sites that connects your child to anyone, anywhere, and all those other things that you & I didn't know, or want to know, until we were in our 20s. Therefore, a routine of sitting together and reading will help them to be comfortable with confiding and sharing things openly with us.

Our children ingest so much mental garbage, especially from the TV and internet, that they truly need some nourishment, in the way of clear thinking, discernment and perspective. These qualities are essential life skills. Parents are in the best position to provide a positive and wholesome influence in this regard.

Books expose our children to complex and well-structured sentences and are good teaching tools for speaking and writing. Language is center stage in all areas of communication. The ability to communicate well is the life-blood of healthy relationships. Both language and communication start with the basics... learning our ABC's. As parents, are we helping our children in this way by reading to them?

Reading from appropriate books also reinforces proper morals and values. If we read to our children, we also help them develop good problem-solving skills. Our little analytical thinkers will follow along with characters in books as they experience different things. Reading aloud can thus educate both the mind and the heart.

As we read, keep the atmosphere relaxed, informal and enjoyable. Be flexible enough to make reading a pleasurable thing, not a burdensome chore. Be perceptive, and know when to stop reading, so as not to turn a positive experience into a negative one. Know when to turn the page of a picture book to build suspense. Keep pace with the flow of the text. Modulate and change your voice for different characters. Make the book alive! The benefit is the greatest when your child is an active participant. Pause, and ask them questions as to what they think may happen next, or if they are old enough, let them read a part or play one of the characters.

Truly, when we read to our children, we're teaching them to have a love books, but we're also proving to them our own love!