Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Benefits of Reading to Children

At infancy, kids are not much interested in reading. In fact their brain is not developed to understand alphabets, construct correct sentences and then read out. Until a child develops grasping power, it's very difficult for him/her to read fluently. Henceforth, you have to take the responsibility to read out the text to your child at the initial stage. Yes, it's quite obvious for you to know the benefits of reading to children. The benefits will be clear only while reading out the text, stories and poems to your child. The next segment shall elaborate on the subject matter.

Importance of Reading to Children

Have you ever asked yourself why reading is important? Or why do you need to read aloud to your child? Reading aloud to children improves their hearing skills. The technique is simple. Read the text and then ask your child to repeat. This way your child will learn the correct pronunciation right from the beginning. Let's begin with the practical benefits of reading aloud to children.

Language Skills
Reading aloud to children is not only the responsibility of teachers but you should also make it a daily habit home. It's important for your child to develop linguistic abilities so that he can master his language quickly. This also gives you the opportunity to spend some time with your children. Mother tongue, being taught properly at an early age helps to gather complete knowledge about it eventually.

Correct Pronunciation
Knowing the correct pronunciation for all words is important for every individual. It will help him to voice his opinion with confidence while participating in debate, speech or elocution. If you read aloud the text he will perceive the words minutely and will emulate the way you or his teachers teach him. Reading comprehensive activities conducted in schools also improve pronunciation of children.

Listening Skills
You are reading aloud and your child is listening. This improves his hearing ability and grasping power. If your child is too young to go school, make sure you read aloud the nursery rhymes and poems everyday. It will help him to memorize quickly and you can also judge the catching power and the intelligence level of your child.

Concentration Power
Your child pays constant attention while you are reading the text to him. This increases his attention span. The results will prove beneficial when your child goes to school. It will help him to concentrate on lectures delivered by teachers during class hours. Effective teaching is the other way to improve concentration in class. Reading aloud to children also enhances their ability to memorize.


New Vocabularies
Play the reading readiness activities with your child everyday. When you read aloud to your child, he comes across new vocabularies. Interpret the meaning while reading. This way he will improve his knowledge on vocabulary. He can later use the new word while writing. Listening to speeches indirectly improve writing skills. This is mostly observed in classes when children write simultaneously while listening.

Communication Skills
Development of communication skill is one of the benefits of reading to your child. How? Try reading comprehensions aloud. Read aloud a text and give him some time to recall whatever he has listened. Then ask him questions about the incidents and the characters of the story. Let him answer and narrate the story in short. This way you are not only helping him to increase his fluency but also improving his communication skills.

As you child grows older, he will read on his own. The experience of being read to during the early years will fortify his interest to read flawlessly. During the formative years of school or beyond, this basic quality will help him to compete in extra-curricular activities. Therefore, make a routine to read out to your child. Preferably in the morning and at bedtime. Teach him the lessons during the early hours of morning, a time when the memory is fresh and read bedtime stories to make him fall asleep. The routine should be set this way.