Growing up, my parents read a story to me every night. I always assumed it was the norm in the bedtime routine for all children across the country. As a teacher with my degree in Early Childhood Education, I know the importance of reading to children. The benefits associated with a simple story at bedtime every day seem endless. Imagine my surprise when I read statistics showing that only 39% of parents read to their children on a daily basis (Young, Davis and Schoen, 1996). In short, I was stunned. I have witnessed struggling readers and the impact it has on their daily lives. When a child has difficulty reading, school all that suffers as a result. It would be something as simple as a story ten minutes daily interactions between parents and children to prevent these children struggle throughout their school? Could it really be that simple? I want parents to know how important it is to read to your children every day.
Benefits
Teach Reading and basic writing skills
When children are read, they are taking in both at once. Simple things experienced readers can take for granted are introduced during the first years of life while listening to a story. Children who are familiar with the books knows how to hold a book and turn the pages left to right. They know that the book has a title. Pre-Readers also understand that the book contains imagery and words and begin to distinguish words and letters. Begin to recognize that the printed text is read from right to left and from top to bottom, which is directly related to beginning writing skills. School districts expect children reading texts that single word at the end of kindergarten, and have these basic skills can drive them to success.
Listening Teach Basic Skills
It is true, as the experiment in the classroom every day. Some children do not have the ability to sit still long enough to hear a story. It may be possible that some children may have problems due to a disability, but others simply lack the vision that the time the story is about. Making story time at home a fun day, and the activity can take the kids to get excited time in school history also can discourage behavior problems.
Promotes vocabulary and language skills
Just think of all the new words children hear books. Our daily conversations do not require much use of complex language or vocabulary and may hinder the development of oral language of children. Reading a child can introduce new words to many, especially non-fiction titles. Children's literature offers great language models for young children. At the hearing the flow of writing and the words innovative, especially in repeated reading of the text, you can promote children's language development.
Build Knowledge of the World
As in language development, reading exposes children to new worlds of information. As a teacher, I used the books to teach children about a subject, such as a place or a person or a topic. The amount of information that a child can learn in the books is order, which leads to profit next.
It promotes love of reading
Enabling children to enjoy reading is one of the most important gifts a parent can do. Children learn reading skills in school, but they will come to associate reading with work, not pleasure. As a result, they can lose their desire to read, carry their school work and the desire to learn. When a parent shares an exciting story with a child, and in turn, is enthusiastic about the child, the father is showing how reading can be fun. Jim Trelease, author of The Read-Aloud Handbook, encourages parents to set an example by stating, "Make sure your children see you reading for pleasure other than reading aloud time. Share with them your enthusiasm for what they are reading.
Encourages parent-child bonding
Reading aloud also creates a special time for parents to bond with their children. Pats together a story, you'll be helping their children develop a lifelong appreciation for reading. (Reading aloud, nd) Build Self-Esteem Children often want to hear the same story over and over again. Just as adults may need to hear more than once to remember or understand, children are in the same way. Trelease (2001) made a very interesting observation, "Those of us who have seen a movie more than once fully aware of how many subtleties escaped us at first. And even more so with children and books. " He also notes that repeated reading of a child can become an expert in a particular book. The child feels good about himself and connects to feel good reading (Trelease, (2001).
About the Author:
Written by Constance Anderson
Teacher
University of South Florida Grad Student
Mom
co-owner of http://www.tinytotboutique.com
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – The Importance of Reading to Children
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