Skip to main content

5 Reasons To Read Aloud To Your Kids Even After They Become Proficient Readers

Most parents read aloud to their kids regularly when they are young but many stop once their kids become proficient readers. Read aloud time doesn't have to (and shouldn't) stop after your kids learn to read for themselves though, reading aloud to your kids remains beneficial all the way through childhood. In this post I share several reasons to continue reading to your kids aloud, even after they become proficient readers themselves.
#thebarefootmom


Quality Time
 Reading aloud to you kids is a great family activity and an awesome way to squeeze in a little extra quality time together. It's one of my kids' favorite times of day and they often beg me to read to them more even after we've already done our planned daily read aloud. I really enjoy having this calm quiet time with my kids, especially since other parts of our days often end up being busy and a bit crazy. 
Introduce Them to a Wide Variety of Literature 
 Reading aloud to your kids is a great opportunity to introduce them to literature they may not pick on their own. I choose books of many different literary styles for our family read alouds. We read historical fiction, the classics, mystery series, fantasy novels, and often just fun kid books.
Boosts Vocabulary 
Books are great for introducing kids to new words and developing a rich vocabulary and this goes for books read aloud as well as books read on your own. I often read my children books above their own reading levels, this gives me an opportunity to introduce new words and it often leads to all sorts of interesting discussions.

 We like to keep a bulletin board up for new words we come across in our reading. We write a word and a short definition on a small piece of construction paper and then pin it to our board so we can revisit it later.
Instill A Love of Reading
One of the best ways to encourage our kids to read on their own and to develop a love for books is by setting and good example, and simply enjoying literature along with them. If your kids see that you love books, they are more likely to be interested themselves. 

There's this James Patterson quote that I love that says "There's no such thing as a kid who hates reading. There are kids who love reading and there are kids who are reading the wrong books."  Reading aloud a wide variety of literature to your children helps them figure out what kinds of books they enjoy.

You'll Enjoy It Too
 Read alouds aren't just fun for your kids, they can be fun for parents too. I love getting to revisit my childhood favorites with my children. I also love discovering new books with them. One of my oldest daughter's favorite series at the moment is the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. It was one of my very favorites growing up as well, and it has been so enjoyable getting to visit them all over again with her.
Do your kids enjoy being read to?

 What are your family's favorite read aloud books?
If you enjoyed this post, check out:

 -5 Reasons To Let Your Kids Go Barefoot

-Learning To Read Is Not A Race


Follow me on:
Facebook
Pinterest
Instagram
Labels:

Comments

  1. Joanne January 24, 2019 at 3:22 AM

    Yep, my kids are all either in middle school or high school an I still read aloud to them at least once a day!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Water Relay Races For Kids

I don't know about your kids, but mine absolutely love games involving water and getting wet in the summer time. In  this post I share 5 of our favorite water relay races to play with friends. These are perfect for birthday parties, homeschool get togethers, and other group events. Sponge Relay: For this relay you will need: - 2 teams of several kids each -2 large sponges -4 small buckets or containers of some sort Divide your participants into 2 teams and have each team line up single file at a predetermined starting place.  Hand out a sponge to the first participant in each line. Set a bucket of water by each team. Set an empty bucket about 20 ft away from each team.  The two empty buckets should be the same size and should have a "fill line" marked half way up. On a count of 3 (or ready set go) the first participant in each line should dip their sponge in the bucket of water, run to the empty bucket, squeeze the water from their spo
2 comments
Read more

STEM Art: 21 STEAM Project Ideas

My kids love STEM projects and we're always looking for ways to add more art to our homeschool days, so I decided I am going to try to dedicate one morning a week this year to STEM art activities. In this post I share some of the ideas we're planning to try, plus a few favorites we've done in the past. What is STEM Education? STEM education is a blended and often hands on approach to teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, which are some of today's fastest growing industries. STEM education offers students the opportunity to problem solve and work on real world problems and questions. Sometimes the acronym STEAM is used, to include the arts. Adding art to STEM education encourages creative thinking and problem solving skills. It can also help make the other included subjects more appealing to some students. STEM Art Projects  Penny Spinners-   Learn about centrifugal force and make your own spinning tops with this fun post from Teach Beside Me. Explo
Post a Comment
Read more

Make Your Own Mineral Identification Kit

One of my family's favorite hobbies is rock hounding. We love collecting and trying to identify neat rock and mineral specimens that we come across. You can put together your own simple kit for identifying rocks and minerals with materials you likely already have around your home. In this post I will explain how to put together your own mineral identification kit and how to use it to identify rocks and minerals you find on your adventures. Making a Rock and Mineral ID Kit Grab yourself a printable Rock and Mineral Journal for recording your observations here:  Printable Rock and Mineral Journal ,  and then gather the following supplies: -A pencil -A coin -An iron nail -A piece of glass (an old pocket mirror works well) -A ceramic tile -A small watertight bottle or container -Some vinegar -A magnet  -A magnifying glass -A dropper (optional)  -Rock and mineral guide (optional)  -A small container or bag to keep it all in Fill the small watertight
1 comment
Read more

Learning About Thailand: Activities and Resources

Thailand ended up being a really fun country to study. There are so many amazing Thai recipes to try and lots of neat buildings and monuments to learn about. My family's favorite part of this unit study was learning about Asian elephants, they are such interesting and intelligent animals!  Basic Information  Thailand is a country in southern Asia. It is boarderd by Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and the Andaman Sea. The northern region is mountainous while the southern region is hilly and forested. Capital- Bangkok Population- 69.6 million Size- 198,115 square miles Currency- Baht   Type of Government- Constitutional Monarchy National Anthem-  Phleng Chat Thai National Animal- elephant Flag Famous Places The Grand Palace- The Grand Palace in Bangkok was used as the official royal residence of Thailand from 1782 to 1925. It is still used today for ceremonies and state functions. The palace sits on the banks of the Chao Phraya River. It consists of many buildings and pavilions set around a
Post a Comment
Read more

Learning About The Human Body Part 1: The Skeletal And Muscular Systems

At the end of each school year, I sit down with my daughter to discuss what topics she wants to learn about the next year. One of her science topics she picked to study this year was the human body. Instead of ordering a boxed curriculum set, I decided to put together my own human body unit. In this post I share some of the resources we used for learning about the human skeletal and muscular systems, plus instructions for a couple hands on learning activities. You can find my post about the human respiratory and circulatory systems  here , and my post about the human digestive and nervous systems  here . The Human Skeletal System Our skeletons are the frame of our body. They give us structure, without them our bodies would be limp like noodles. They also provide places for muscles to attach so our bodies can move. Why Does Your Body Need Calcium? Experiment: This is a simple experiment you can do to explore why calcium is important for our bones. You will need: -several clean
5 comments
Read more