7 Reasons Why Reading Aloud To Children Is Important

If you were lucky enough to have someone you loved read to you as a child, then you already understand the value of reading aloud to children! A child is never too young or too old to have someone read to them.

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Why read-aloud to children?

Reading aloud builds vocabulary, improves comprehension and listening skills.
It’s a pleasant experience and a wonderful way to bond with a child,
Children who have had someone read-aloud to them usually do better in school.
It Communicates your own love of reading.
Reading together can spark conversations about difficult topics or subjects of interest to you or the child you are reading with.
Spending time reading to a child shows them they are important to you and you care about them.
Reading-aloud Introduces them to wonderful new books and stories.

While we would all love to snuggle with a favorite child as we read-aloud, reading to a child online can still have these same benefits.

I love to read-aloud to my grandchildren online and in person.

My favorite quotes on the value of reading aloud

“The fire of literacy is created by the emotional sparks between a child, a book, and the person reading. It isn’t achieved by the book alone, nor by the child alone, nor by the adult who’s reading aloud—it’s the relationship winding between all three, bringing them together in easy harmony.” –Mem Fox, Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever

“Reading aloud is the best advertisement because it works. It allows a child to sample the delights of reading and conditions him to believe that reading is a pleasurable experience, not a painful or boring one.”–Jim Trelease, The Read-Aloud Handbook

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” -Albert Einstein

“There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all.” -Jaqueline Kennedy

I enjoyed reading Meghan Cox Gurdon’s book:The Enchanted Hour: The Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud In An Age Of Distraction. You can learn more about this book here.

Here are some quotes I like from her book:

“Where the screen tends to separate family members by sending each into his own private virtual reality, reading together draws people closer and unites them. Sitting with a book and a companion or two, we are transported to realms of imagination in warm physical proximity to one another…

“When it comes to paying attention, children from read-aloud families go to school with a triple advantage. They’re used to listening, so it’s easy for them to do it. They’ve heard lots of language, so their comprehension will be comparatively strong. And they know from experience that paying attention brings rewards…

“And then there is the giving of self. When we read to other people, we show them that they matter to us, that we want to expand time and attention and energy in order to bring them something good.”