Reading Aloud Sets the Stage for a Brighter Future

By Martha Caldwell

Learning to read begins the first time you hold your baby in your arms and read a picture book to her.  At first she may bat at the pages and lose interest quickly, but in a few months, she’ll be bringing you her favorite books and climbing into your lap to hear the story. How often parents read to their preschoolers is one of the best predictors of how well that child will do in school.

Children of all ages love it when parents, grandparents or older siblings read to them. Reading aloud to young children (and older children!) helps them develop verbal and written language skills. The more words they hear, the more words they learn. Just as importantly, hearing stories read aloud sets the stage for them learn to read! The rhythm and flow of written language is different than spoken language, so when children hear the stories read aloud, their young brains absorb the cadence of the written word, which makes learning to read on their own easier.

Maryanne Wolfe, author of Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of Reading and the Brain, tells us that middle class kindergarteners enter school having heard up to 32 million more words spoken than less privileged children whose parents haven’t read to them. These words, along with the rhythm of reading, are stored in their brains, giving them a huge advantage in school. “Children who have never had a story read to them, who never hear words that rhyme, who never imagine fighting with dragons or marrying a prince, have the odds overwhelmingly against them,” writes Wolfe.

Reading aloud to children not only sets the stage for success in school, but paves the way for economic success too. Studies show that children from families who read aloud to them have more opportunities for higher education and future economic mobility.