Reading aloud to our children will change their lives forever. After all, you only need a book, a child, and an adult. Easy! Right? But what wonders await! The secret is in what happens between the storyteller and the child. We are never tense, never quiet. Even when the storyteller asks questions, the child is allowed to be noisy.
The storyteller allows the child to have pure unadulterated fun! Engaging in this kind of conspiracy with children is perhaps the greatest advantage of reading aloud to them. We can share the words and pictures, the ideas and viewpoints, the rhythms and rhymes, the pain and comfort, and the hopes and fears and the big issues of life that we encounter together in the pages of a children’s book. In this way, we bond through minds and hearts with our children. That bonding is glue that keeps children reading and loving it. Every time a child picks up a book that ‘loving feeling” stimulates him or her to read more.
The best time to start reading aloud to a baby is the day it is born. Reading aloud to children early in life also rapidly develops their speaking skills. They can’t learn to talk unless they’re spoken to, which is why psychologists and speech path-ologists tell us we need to have loving, laughing, deep and meaningful conversations with our kids long before they turn three.
The more we talk to our kids, the brighter they’ll be. Read-aloud sessions are perfect times for engaging in these conversations because the reader and the listener can chat endlessly about the story. Sharing books with children means that both you and your child get involved with the story, thinking about it, commenting on it, and enjoying it. It should be an easy, pleasant experience.
These points are worth remembering.
Always sit side by side with your child while sharing books.
Let your child to choose which stories he or she wants to hear
Try to help your child understand how books and stories work. We all know that books have covers, title pages and are written by people.
Encourage your child to act like a reader.
Always keep calm when sharing books with your children
Never force your child to share a book with you.
Try not to make sharing books a quiz for children
Storytellers have a responsibility to choose good books; not just any book will do. Storytellers, parents, grandparents and anyone else who obtains a book to be read to a child should firstly read the book to himself. Is the book interesting? Does it entertain? Is there much to talk about? Are the pictures colourful? Does the author talk down to the child? Is the story showing the vast difference between good and evil? Are there any values? Learn to be selective. You wouldn’t feed garbage to your child, so don’t read garbage to your child’s brain. Just because a book is inexpensive and packed full of pages does not mean it is good for your child!
Want to help your child become a successful reader? It’s easy:
Be yourself a reader
Share a book with your child everyday
Let your children see you enjoy reading
Buy your child books frequently
Take your child often to the local library
Make sharing books a pleasurable experience
Encourage them to attend storytelling sessions in your local libraries, bookshops and Fun Areas.
Pick out your books carefully and read constantly to your children. I promise they will love you for it!
If you have any questions about the above information or how to become better storytellers to your children, feel free to send me an e-mail with your queries.
Storytellers have a responsibility to choose good books; not just any book will do. Storytellers, parents, grandparents and anyone else who obtains a book to be read to a child should firstly read the book to himself. Is the book interesting? Does it entertain? Is there much to talk about? Are the pictures colourful? Does the author talk down to the child? Is the story showing the vast difference between good and evil? Are there any values? Learn to be selective. You wouldn’t feed garbage to your child, so don’t read garbage to your child’s brain. Just because a book is inexpensive and packed full of pages does not mean it is good for your child!