Reading To Your Child is Critical To Their Future
Why reading aloud to your child is so critical to their future
While working with several of our youngsters at The Reading Ranch’s Castle Hills location last week, I came across an article titled, Read aloud to your children to boost their vocabulary. What I really liked about this piece – besides that it is chock full of great advice – is that it further validates a conversation we’ve been having for years with our parents.
Read to your children – not some of the time or part of the time – but ALL of the time.
I don’t want to spoil the entire article by phys.org, because I do think you should give it a read when you have a chance. I also invite you to read a similar blog post we wrote last year on how reading bedtime stories to your children improves their fluency. But I do want to share one powerful excerpt from the latest article, which reads:
“We should increase the number of opportunities children have to hear stories both at home and in schools so children can experience the many benefits of a rich and varied vocabulary.”
A broader range of possible word choices
Per the article, research shows children who are not read to regularly are comparatively disadvantaged against those who are. Children who don’t have these skills have difficulty understanding words, phrases, and context. They also see reading as a chore instead of something that’s fun.
When parents read books aloud to their children, there are numerous advantages, including:
- Improving your child’s attention span and listening skills
- Increasing their comprehension, vocabulary, and imagination
- Higher grades in other subjects such as math and science
- Encouraging them to become better readers and writers
- Decreasing the likelihood for hyperactivity
- Allowing for more bonding time (who doesn’t want more of that?)
According to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, “When intervention is delayed, or a child is not read to regularly, it takes four times as long to intervene in fourth grade as it does in late kindergarten because of brain development and because of the increase in content for students to learn as they grow older.”
Build your child’s reading and writing confidence at The Reading Ranch®
The Reading Ranch focuses on only literacy skills (reading, phonics, fluency, spelling, vocabulary, comprehension, and writing) for young students (PreK-4th). Our laser focus creates results, and we’ve been doing it for more than 12 years.
At The Reading Ranch, we offer reading and writing enrichment programs specifically designed to fill the gap in your child’s literacy abilities. Our program is for kids in Pre-K through fourth grade and is phonetically based on reading, writing, and spelling. After all, life is good when you’re reading well.
For more information call (972) 984-2348.
