Reading aloud is the single most important activity to prepare children for school.
- Talk with your children as you play or do chores. Talking with you helps them learn to use words.
- Read to your children. Let them choose the story. Bedtime is a good time to read.
- Let your children see you read so that they know you enjoy reading and think it is important.
- Ask older children to read to younger ones. The older children will be proud of their skills, and the younger ones will want to read like them.
- Go to the library together. The librarian can help find books your children will enjoy.
- Keep books, magazines, and newspapers around your home so there will always be something to read.
- Say rhymes or poetry, or sing songs. Rhymes help children learn letter sounds.
- Tell stories about your family and stories you enjoyed as a child. Have other family members tell stories, too.
Crucially, helping a child to explore the magic of reading is the single most helpful thing any parent or caregiver can do to maximize their chances of future success. Even just 10 minutes of reading for pleasure a day has been shown to have enormous benefits. In data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, kids who read for pleasure score substantially higher, even adjusted for family background. And there’s more: Kids who read for pleasure experience “vastly improved mental health,” according to a National Literacy report.
~ David Shelley, CEO of Hachette Book Group