Why it mattered
Why We Never Stopped
It was never really about the books.
We've all been told to read to our babies, read to our children. It increases their vocabulary. It strengthens their social and emotional development. It supercharges their language development. The list of benefits goes on and on.
But the greatest benefit I found wasn't on any of those lists. It was the bond it created between me and my children. The bond it created between my husband, the non-reader, and our children. The bond between the children and their grandmother, the one who started it all.
Why does it matter that we never stopped until they left for college? It was important to us. We were able to share books with them that I loved, we found books that we had never heard of and loved, books we would never have read together if it weren't for our read-aloud time. We were there for each other on the regular nights, and on the nights I didn't think I could make it through.
Reading aloud became a love language for all of us. It became a comfort of home we didn't know we needed, until the night we desperately needed it.
Curious what we read together? Browse all the books we have read.
Tips by age group
Babies & Toddlers
They should be exploring books, looking at pictures, and being read to. Board books, cloth books, books with textures — all of it counts. The goal at this stage is simply: books are wonderful things.
Pre-School
Set a "reading time" for your child. They can quietly play with their books, telling stories to their siblings, their stuffed animals, or to you. This is not the time to give them an iPad.
Early Readers
Your child will be beginning to read at school. It is important to make the reading at home "pleasurable". There should be a set reading time, but it should be books of their choosing. My son and I used to take lots of non-fiction books out of the library. He would sit and look through them for a long time.
Readers
I'm sure their school assigns reading each night as part of their homework. But here's where reading aloud can really shine — even for kids who read well on their own.
- If possible, establish a "family reading time" so everyone is reading at the same time.
- Read the same book your child is reading — then you can have discussions about it.
- Get an audiobook of the book your child is reading, and they can read along while listening.
- Read aloud more advanced books. Give them several options and let them pick.
“Reading aloud makes readers.Reading aloud makes writers.Reading aloud changes lives.”
— Kate DiCamillo
The Harry Potter moment
When my daughter was in 2nd grade she wanted to begin reading the Harry Potter books, but she knew they were about Wizards and was hesitant because she thought they would be too scary. So, I told her we could read them aloud — then I would be there to help her through the scary parts. She agreed. We read Books 1–5 together. It took us a long time to get through Book 5 — it's about 800 pages. When we were finally done, she looked at me and said "I'm done." She read Book 6 and Book 7 within 10 days.
That's what reading aloud does. It builds the bridge. They cross it on their own.
Happy reading!
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