The Importance of Reading to Children
With the holidays just around the corner, everyone is in the gifting mindset. Books are some of the best presents out there to get. You can lost in the world and connect with the characters. Reading to children is also very important. In fact, what happens during the first few years of life determines or “sets the stage” for what the rest of their life will be.
Reading out loud has been proven to be the most influential activity that leads to development of language and emphasizes early literacy skills. Learning to read early and developing early language and social skills has also been seen in kids who were read to not only as a baby, but as they continued to grow. According to the Kids and Family Reading Report by Scholastic, “more than three out of four parents who have children ages 5 and younger start reading aloud before their child reaches his first birthday. {…}The research also showed that more parents of 3- to 5-year-olds are reading aloud frequently, with 62 percent of these parents reading aloud five to seven days a week, compared with 55 percent in 2014”. Areas of the brain that are responsible for visual imagery and understanding the meaning of language have been proven to be more active, when a child is being read to. It also helps with expanding a child’s vocabulary and increases parent-child bonding. Parents or even an older sibling or other relative can read to young children and it will benefit them in so many ways and make them smarter.
It is really important for kids to be read to. I believe that even high schoolers can form a connection with younger children by reading to them. It can be fun for the child having an older kid read them a story, and fun for the high-schooler getting to read to little kids. This is why I am trying to start the club Read to Me that focuses on just that. If you are interested, please email me at [email protected]
Sources:
http://www.reachoutandread.org/our-story/importance-of-reading-aloud/
