Reading aloud to young children can help them acquire the information and skills they need to succeed in school and life, notes Beverly Berna, a family life specialist with Iowa State University Extension.  It is important that children develop an understanding of the difference between written language and everyday conversation, learn the meaning of many words, and discover the pleasure of reading. 

 

Here are some suggestions for reading aloud to children:

 

Make reading books and enjoyable experience.  Choose a comfortable place where the children can sit near you.  Help them feel safe and secure.  Be enthusiastic about reading.

 

Read to children frequently.  Establish regular times for reading during the day, and find other opportunities to read:   Start or end the day with a book or Read to them to help them settle down for nap time.

 

Help children to learn as you read.  Explain words that they may not know.  Point out how the pictures in a book relate to the story.  Talk about the characters’ actions and feelings.

 

Ask children questions as you read.  Ask questions that help children connect the story with their own lives or that help them to compare the book with other books they have read.

 

Encourage children to talk about the book.  Ask them to talk about their favorite parts and encourage them to tell the story in their own words.

 

Read many kinds of books.  Read books about the characters and situations so they can learn about the world.  Both similar and dissimilar characters and situations to those in the children’s lives are important. 

 

Choose books to help you teach.  Use alphabet books to help teach the names of the letters and the sounds, counting books to teach children how to count and recognize numbers, poetry or rhyming books to support phonological awareness, and big books (oversized books that your children can easily see) to point out letters, words, and other features of print and to teach book handling.

 

Reread favorite books.  Children love to hear their favorite books over and over again.  Hearing books read several times helps children understand and notice new things.

skb 3/3/2008