Take Time To Read

Written by Martha Caldwell

The Million Book Read is here and you can participate by taking the time this week to read a book to a child. Children of every age enjoy the experience of sharinga book with an important grown-up in their lives. Of course, grown-ups, as well, benefit by entering into the child’s world, sharing the joy of a story, and knowing how greatly they have contributed to a child’s future.

Studies show that reading aloud to children of any age helps prepare them for the

monumental task of reading in school. While learning to talk seems to be a natural

part of human development, reading is a skill that must be learned, and for many

children, learning to read is a challenging task. According to Dr. Sally Shaywitz of

the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity, “Reading is the most important work

of childhood and as many as one in five children struggle to learn to read, with

consequences extending beyond childhood into adult life.” The National Institute

for Health estimates that 5% of children learn to read with little or no effort, 20-

30% learn to read easily when given instruction, 60% learn to read with a lot of

effort, and the remaining 20-30% experience extreme difficulty learning to read.

Why not give a child all the help you can. Reading aloud to children from an early

age helps prepare them better than anything else for learning to read themselves.

Here are six key reasons why:

1. Reading to children builds relationships. Children of any age enjoy spending

time reading with parents and other significant adults in their lives. Reading

builds verbal fluency and fosters communication; children love to talk

about what they are reading. Conversations with adults make children feel

more secure so the time and attention you spend reading to your children

contributes to their welfare and increases their self-esteem.

2. Reading aloud to children exposes them to a new words and concepts that

enlarge their vocabularies and increase their information about the world

around them. For instance, a preschooler may learn colors and shapes from

a book, while a school age child may learn about the life of Martin Luther

King, Jr. or the phases of the moon.

3. Reading aloud to children helps develop their imaginations and enhances

their creativity. Hearing stories of all kinds inspire children to create

their own imaginative scenarios. Children share stories with each other

throughout childhood and act out the stories they know in play. Hearing a

variety of stories creates a repository of character types and plot scenarios

in a child’s imagination, and provides a wellspring for creativity throughout

their lives.

4. Reading aloud to children builds listening and comprehension skills and

increases memory and language skills. When children are exposed to the

patterns of written English, which are quite different than spoken English,

they learn to read more easily when the time comes.

5. Children often develop interest in particular topics through books. One

child may show an affinity to books about cars and truck, while another may

gravitate toward books about animals. Parents who read to their children

get to share in developing these special interests in their child. It’s so much

fun to see a book and know that your child will absolutely love it because you

know what your child is interested in.

6. When children share the joy of reading with parents and other important

adults, they develop positive attitudes about learning. This attitude transfers

to interest in school. When a child is introduced to reading in school, he is

eager and willing to learn to read because he already associates reading with

adventure, excitement and joy.

Take the time this week to read a book (or several books!) to a child. This simple

activity pays off in so many ways. You can be sure you are contributing to the

health, wellbeing and future school success of a child. But even more, you will be

rewarded by the relationship you are building with a child.