It’s an Investment. It’s a Gift. It’s fun! Reading Aloud to Children

 A guest blog post from the author of If an Armadillo Went to a Restaurant and the upcoming companion title If an Elephant Went to School, Ellen Fischer: “The single most important activity for building knowledge for their eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children.” Becoming a Nation of Readers, a 1985 report by the Commission on Reading. Read 15 minutes a day to a child and you are making an investment into their future:

• Developing their language
• Teaching them to love books
• Giving them an early start to kindergarten
• Stimulating their cognitive skills
• Exposing them to story form and print letters
• Developing vocabulary and conversation
• Teaching fluency

Read 15 minutes a day to child and you are giving them a gift:

• Showing them how exciting books can be
• Giving them a chance to use their imaginations to explore people, places and events beyond their own experiences
• Offering the opportunity for discussion
• Giving them snuggle time with the parent or reader

Read 15 minutes a day to a child and you’ll have fun:

• Taking the child to a library and getting them their own library card
• Reading books that you enjoy reading
• Reading books that have humor, especially for younger children
• Reading with excitement and the child catching your enthusiasm

As a teacher, a parent, and an author, I believe the daily 15 minutes you invest will give a child a head start in life. It will also assure an everlasting love for books. Can you start reading too early? No! Start at 6 months with board books. Should you continue after the child learns to read? Absolutely! Have fun and enjoy this special time together. Ellen Fischer grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, but has lived in North Carolina for over thirty years. She loves to teach and write for children. She has taught elementary age children for over twenty years and is the mother of three.