Reading Aloud Makes Learning Enjoyable

“NEXT to hugging your child,” says Jim Trelease, author of The Read-Aloud Handbook, give your child “a piece of your mind and a piece of your time.”

How? By reading aloud to him early in his life and often, recommends Trelease. The experience and benefits you and your child will receive are long lasting. In what ways? Not only will such reading bring back memories of treasured moments long after the child has grown up but it will help your child to become a better reader and learner too. Your child will also develop his visual skills because he will be learning to focus his attention on a picture. For example, at 18 months a child can already identify a picture of a puppy, and he can understand the word long before he can read it. In addition, not only will the reading, writing, speaking, listening, and imagining skills of your child improve but his attitude toward becoming a good reader will also improve​—he will enjoy reading.

5. Watch the attention span. True, a good story will capture your child’s interest, but realize that he may not give his full attention to the story. Still, he will learn something from it.

6. Be patient. Like some adults who enjoy seeing the same movie over and over, children want to hear their favorite story read again and again because they discover new meanings each time.