Reading with Your Child is very Important

Reading With Your Young Child

By Deborah Williams
Most parents realize the importance of reading to their young children regularly.  Bradford Wiles, early childhood development professor at Kansas State University, has led research focused on emergent literacy, part of the developmental process that begins at birth and continues until preschool and kindergarten.  An article on the Science Daily website reports that Wiles found that parents should read with their young children and not just to them.
Children aged 3 to 5 years old were the focus for this study.  Even before they can say words or form sentences, this is a prime time to help them become better readers later and increase reading comprehension.  The parents of children in this age group should do the following for their young children:

• Read with them as a family at anytime during the day, not just before going to bed.
• Read the same book over and over again because the child can learn new things every time.
• Pay attention to their reading style by using engaging voice, tone, and the way they read to their children.
• Engage their children—figure out what the child is thinking and get them to think beyond the words on the page.
  • Ask open-ended questions.
  • Offer instructions.
  • Give examples.
  • Give feedback about what the children are thinking.

Reading with young children helps to increase their vocabularies substantially—one of the keys to future success in school.
Listen to Dr. Wiles discuss emergent literacy: