Host: Why is reading aloud important?

Rene Hackney: The department of education says that reading aloud to young children is the single most important factor and then becoming later good readers. That children who are read to aloud everyday, they tend to enjoy reading and being read to until they choose reading as an activity. They will be more likely to enjoy reading on their own. It also builds a really good sense of vocabulary for young children. Children who are read to aloud tend to have better vocabulary than children who are not and this is actually throughout the ages. So, the idea is that children who are read to aloud through high school have better vocabulary and better verbal skills than children who are read to aloud through middle school, through middle school better than through second grade, so the idea is the longer you can read aloud, the better. I know that seems uncomfortable to many parents, they can imagine reading aloud to a high scholar but the idea is that if you continue to have it a daily activity, if children just assume it part of their day, it may stretch on and last a bit longer. We have had many families say they get really creative as children get older. They may take turns reading aloud to each other. We have had a family that read plays aloud, so that their reading aloud, but it is more interactive, but the idea is just to encourage as your children love to read.