Tips and Reasons For Reading Aloud As Your Kids Get Older

As our kids get older and become more proficient readers, we spend less time reading aloud to them than we used to. Only 17% of parents of kids ages 9-11 read aloud to their children. But 83% of kids ages 6-17 say being read to is something they either love or like a lot, according to Scholastic.

Most childrens’ reading levels do not catch up to his/her listening levels until eight grade. This means you can read a more challenging text that they can still understand when listening. In addition, it’s a great activity to use to bond with your growing child. Here are a few tips for reading together as your kids get older.

Introduce your child to a variety of genres. The goal of reading is to enjoy a good story. When you introduce your child to a variety of types of books, they get to discover what they love to read. This will motivate them to pick up more of a variety of books. Genres your older child may love: graphic novels, nonfiction text, biographies, poetry, historical fiction, and fantasy.

Check out the Best Books for 8 Year Olds to discover a rich variety of book titles to read to your child. When kids get hooked on a new author, series or genre, their love of reading will continue to grow.

Read aloud nonfiction text. By the time your kids reach third grade, they are having to read more for information and to learn new content. This is a challenge! When parents read aloud nonfiction text to their kids, they can model how to read and comprehend nonfiction text.

• When reading nonfiction text, point out the text features to your kids. The text features are all the components of the text that are not in the main body. They help us understand how a nonfiction book is organized. This includes captions, pictures, graphs, diagrams, headings, table of contents, index, glossary, bold and italicized words.

• During and after reading nonfiction text, ask your child questions to discover what they are learning as they read. Encourage them to continue thinking the entire time you are reading about the text. Give them a chance to read some to you when possible.

• Always pick an enjoyable topic that your child is interested in when reading for enjoyment. Ask them what they would like to learn more about and check out books on those topics.

• When you read aloud and expose your kids to new books, their vocabulary will continue to grow and reading nonfiction text will become easier.

Books develop your child’s awareness of others and situations. Reading aloud is a great way to teach your children life lessons without lecturing them or having to experience it themselves. The more reading experiences your child has when learning about other’s life situations, the more empathy they develop.

Reading aloud continues to model fluency- even with older children. When you read aloud, you are modeling how reading should sound. You pause at commas and periods. Your voice inflection changes as you read different parts of the text and you even model what to do when you come to a word you don’t know.

Read aloud will continue to boost your child’s love of reading as they grow as well as their long-term reading success. Continue this valuable and enjoyable experience with your children.

Jenn writes at her blog healthyhappyimpactful.com. She’s a mom of three looking to learn and grow. Check it out if you love helpful tips on health, family, and personal growth.