I love Jim Trelease’s book The Read-Aloud Handbook. As the title suggests, the book is about the
importance of reading aloud to your child.
I’ll give you the most important parts of the book (doing the book
little justice, because it really is a great book that will help every parent).
Q: When should you start
reading to your child? When should you
stop? What if you don’t have time to
read?
You should start reading to your baby from day one. Don’t worry if you haven’t been reading, you
can always start today. When a child is
very young, the main goal is to show that reading is fun. If they want to hear the same book over and
over again for a month, read it to them.
Don’t pressure a child to memorize words or to start reading before they
are ready. Remember, this should be fun
for both of you.
Just because your child can read, doesn’t mean that you
should stop reading to them. If your
child is in middle school (or even high school) you should still read to
them. Children and teens’ reading skills
are still usually lower than their understanding skills so they are getting
access to stories that they can’t read themselves.
Reading to a child doesn’t have to be before bedtime, it can
be any time of the day. You can always
combine reading and chores. For example,
while an older child is dusting the living room or cleaning their room, you
could be reading to him or her. The rule
of thumb is that kids should be read to at least 20 minutes a day.
Q: What if my kid
doesn’t like to read?
The Read-Aloud Handbook stresses three things. The first is that reading is a skill and that
it does take practice. The second point
is that children can learn to love reading even later in life. What usually changes those teens who aren’t
readers is a special book. Keep
recommending books (or getting recommendations from librarians, teachers and
friends) even if they claim that they hate to read. Finally, children and teens who love to read
are usually those who have been read to, so keep reading.
Q: What if you can’t
read or if you aren’t a good reader yourself?
In the past, this was a bigger problem than it is now. Now, there is technology to help parents. Liberal Memorial Library has a subscription
to TumbleBooks, which is a collection of e-books for children. Parents can either read to the child or turn
the sound on and have the story read to them.
When each word is spoken, it’s highlighted to try to reinforce the
connection between the words and sounds.
For parents that don’t have Internet access, check out a kit from the
library that contains a CD and a story book. Of course, don’t forget about story time and
other activities at the library!
The main reason that I like The Read-Aloud Handbook is that
it stresses the joy of reading. Talk to
your children and teens about your favorite books that you read when you were
their age, let them read magazines and choose what they want to read, and most
importantly, make reading to your child or teen a priority by making it part of
your whole family’s lifestyle.
