Why Read Aloud to Children

It’s fun for you and the children
Reading aloud can turn children into readers who will enjoy books all their lives
A shared activity helps build a relationship between parents and children
It opens the door to communication
Children develop listening skills which are useful in many aspects of life
It shows our children they are important to us
They learn about other worlds, both physical and emotional
Children whose parents read aloud to them tend to be better readers and can often perform better in school
Reading aloud expands vocabulary
They can develop interests when books on specific topics are read. Topics such as horses, football, trekking, art, dinosaurs ...
Children can learn positive (and how to avoid negative) attitudes and behaviour patterns through the story characters
Reading stories aloud to children helps them develop their creativity and imagination
It calms children before sleep. (Or, for older children and teenagers, reading aloud to them while they are doing their chores is a great idea.)
Children’s confidence can be boosted by the feeling of security when a parent reads to them
Reading aloud can introduce types of books to children that they might not discover on their own
They absorb the rhythms of language
Builds attention span
Reading aloud to your children is a wonderful gift.

In this section

My friends and I love our books.

Grandpa reading a story

'Read me the story again, Grandpa!'