Reading to children is beneficial for enhancing learning skills and bonding time. Once children start reading on their own, parents can switch roles or read together. Reading should never stop and can include diverse selections and extended dialogue moments. However, parents should stop reading if it interferes with a child’s silent reading practice or if the child is not paying attention. Reading to children can instill lifelong reading habits.
Parents are told that reading to children is an excellent way to enhance learning skills, stimulate an interest in reading, and improve a child’s concentration. Reading to children also allows for quality, cuddly time with the kids and can be an end-of-the-day gift for both adults and children. However, many parents wonder what is the appropriate age for children to stop reading. The answer to this depends on numerous factors.
Once children start reading on their own and daily reading is assigned, reading to children should be in addition to the child’s silent reading. However, if a child is struggling with words and stumbling with pronunciation, it may be best to switch roles at this point and have the child read to you. That way, you can still capture the closeness of reading together, and the caretaker can help your child with difficult words when needed.
Another possibility is to combine your reading with a child’s reading. This works best if you have two books at your disposal. You can switch paragraphs with the child. He or she reads one aloud, and then you read one aloud. This teaches a valuable skill to children. During school they will read the material aloud and are expected to follow along with the text when other children are reading. Learning this skill can help your child stay more focused during read-aloud sessions in schools.
When you read to children or have them read to you, the experience may be an overt learning experience. Some children will miss the closeness they shared with you when you read books together. You might consider reading to children who are already good readers just as a way to affirm that bond and maintain a cherished and anticipated activity.
Indeed, reading to children must never stop. It can become a family activity that occurs every night, or at least every other night. Many children want to show off their reading skills, and it’s great to have extra books or to sit close enough to a child so they can read from your book. Give the kids a chance to be readers too.
With extended dialogue moments, you can even teach the kids a thing or two about drama, voice-overs, and wit reading. Each child in the family could be a Harry Potter character, for example, and read their “part” when the time comes. With a large family, having at least a couple of copies of a book makes it more viable.
Also consider more diverse selections when reading to older children. Short stories and essays work very well and can introduce new vocabulary and discussion of ideas. For comedy work, look to writers like Mark Twain, James Thurber, Erma Bombeck, or James Herriot. Read magazines like Nature or National Geographic aloud. Introducing more advanced concepts to older children and discussing a reading is an excellent way to help children improve understanding while still having family time.
There are some times when you should stop reading to children. If kids aren’t doing well with extended silent reading, they really need the practice. Don’t let your reading to children interfere with their development of this fun and useful skill.
Also, let children know you want their attention when you read to them. A young child may want to stay active, but talking about yourself while reading to children or making distracting noises should put a stop to reading for the night. It’s okay if the child wanders around a room while you’re reading, as long as he’s reaching for the material.
Typically, there are few reasons to stop reading to children. As children mature, they can also become readers and can learn interpretive reading of texts. It also continues a tradition enjoyed by many children and can help instill lifelong reading habits.
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